The Girl with the Iron Gloves
by Biomechtraveler
Summary: Ever since her sister died, the expectation has been on Anna to become the Queen. She didn't mind, but she did find it all extremely lonely. Her friend Hans isn't helping much either by never visiting. This all changes when she stumbles upon a secret dungeon in the lower reaches of the castle. What she finds there will turn the kingdom upside down.
1. The girl, the prison, the food

_Chapter 1: The Prison, the girl, the food._

It is common knowledge that a princess, when expected to ascend the throne, must take upon herself all the responsibilities of a good education; for a monarch must be in the possession of an educated mind if their country is to fare at all. As such, it left the chosen princess little time for the usual princess-like activities of frolicking, chasing butterflies and having tea with her handsome collection of stuffed toys.

Anna, as fate would have it, was a princess at the tender age of fifteen. She bemoaned this fact to whoever would care to listen: be it her uncle, maids, or more often than not, her childhood friend: Hans, a prince of the Southern isles. Such was their discourse one fine morning a few days after he'd arrived for Anna's sixteenth birthday.

"Hans, I thought you'd be the last person to tell me not to skip my morning lessons."

"What? I would never encourage truancy!" Hans retorted. This response caused Anna to cross her arms in staunch protest. Hans took an involuntary step forward, since Anna was currently perched precariously on the railing of the balcony.

"I don't see how it's fair that you get to skip three days' worth of tutoring by coming to Arendelle, and I don't get a single hour to spare; even when it's my birthday," The princess said.

"Anna, your birthday was two days ago," replied Hans, stoically.

"I know," retorted Anna.

"And we spent the entire day looking for good sandwich spots in the mountains."

"Yes we did."

"And the day after we sailed the fjord because you insisted you wanted to go fishing."

"And your point is, Mr Westergard?"

"Haven't you skipped quite enough lessons as it is?"

Upon hearing this statement Anna covered her mouth with a hand in feigned surprise. Hans didn't know whether it was nobler to laugh or to frown. He, possessing such a long history with Anna as to be called her best of friends, was considered an expert in the moods of the princess. Nevertheless, even he sometimes found her impossible to handle. Hans recovered his wits and, after a moment of reflection, did his best to appease the princess who was still pouting, and thus still in danger of toppling over backwards to her doom.

"Look, Anna…"

Anna looked Hans in the eye and raised a suspicious eyebrow. She had heard this tone before, often from the lips of an exasperated and irate uncle. Hans went on:

"You're going to be crowned Queen of Arendelle one day. I, on the other hand, am twelfth in line to the throne of the Southern Isles- I'll never be king...or anyone important. You must realise that your education is magnitudes more important than mine."

The princess opened her mouth to object; however, upon seeing the look in Hans' eyes she promptly became silent and downcast. Six years of friendship and an inner conviction that Hans possessed a greater wealth of wisdom, convicted Anna of the wrongness of her truancy. With a sigh, Anna decided the battle lost and stepped back onto the balcony, eliciting an unconscious breath of relief from Hans. It wasn't like Anna had never fallen off from some of her precarious perches; after that, it was the business of the house physicians, apothecaries and broken arms.

"Alright. I'll go." Anna said, and then added with a hint of sadness. "You leave tomorrow don't you?"

She managed a slight giggle as she made for the door. "For twelfth in line, you sure are busy."

Hans could not deny it. Even though he was last in line, there was no shortage of work for him back at home. After all, he was at the age where princes were expected to attain the set of gentlemanly qualities that would procure them the hand of a princess. Hans who, having been blessed by nature with dashing good looks and a charming humor, was looked upon by all as the favored suitor for the up and coming princess Anna, felt the full brunt of those great expectations. His father, the honored king of the southern isles, was chief among those who saw Hans' friendship with the princess as the promise of an early marriage and a second son who will one day inherit a throne-a good throne too-for Arendelle was a prosperous trading nation, with one of the finest navies the known world had to offer.

So it came to be that Hans suddenly found himself plunged into the training program meant for only the most eligible of princes. The result was two-fold: the youngest prince suddenly found himself the envy of all but one of his brothers; and Hans suddenly found that he had a lot less time to spend with Anna. This visit, for the commemoration of Anna's birthday, was his first to Arendelle in over a year.

He watched Anna leave before he too, removed himself from the balcony and made his way into the Arendelle castle. He would tour the markets today, making acquaintance with as many reputable traders as possible. If he was to be king, he needed friends.

When Anna finally found the time to look for Hans, the old grandfather clock was already striking seven. Her lessons today had been comprised of a yawn-inducing combination of economics, geography, and political history. Apparently, Arendelle's relations with the southern isles had never been smooth sailing. Anna ignored the not so subtle hints that this was all supposed to change when she ascended the throne. She found the prince reclining by the fireplace-nose deep in a book he had borrowed from the library. She managed to glimpse its cover before he snapped it shut and rested it on the leather couch beside him-'History and Construction of the Arendelle Castle' it had said: a perfectly boring cover. Anna was convinced he hadn't really been reading.

"Hans," said Anna, a grin plastered on her face.

"Anna." He said.

"So…"

As awkward silences went, this was not the worst. Hans had already decided upon a path of discourse and was merely waiting for Anna's prompt to begin. Meanwhile, Anna had decided that Hans, being the better talker, should in this case be the progenitor of the conversation. They stood facing each other, Anna sporting a rather goofy smile on her face. A few seconds later, Anna realised she was staring and spoke.

"So, what were you reading?"

Hans smiled and began to elaborate his fascinating study of the Arendelle castle and its history, not only did the book contain detailed maps; it also contained a list that tediously stated the various contributions of past kings to the building's construction. Apparently, they had a vast dungeon system built under the castle in the sixteenth century for political prisoners and prisoners of war. Hans explained with gruesome detail how the dungeon was shut down after it was accidentally flooded, resulting in the deaths of all the king's prisoners. Anna made a face, but also found herself interested, albeit with a rather morbid curiosity.

"Why don't you take me on a tour of the castle?" Said Hans.

"Huh?" Anna looked at Hans quizzically.

Hans got up and walked over to the fire, staring into the flames as they danced over the wood.

"Just for old time's sake."

Anna nodded slowly. "Ok."

Hans smiled. "It's been awhile since you've lectured me on how your late father collected all those pictures in the art gallery."

A small smile formed on Anna's lips; she had a better idea. "We could go exploring!"

"Exploring?" said Hans, feeling for a moment that his dignity as a grown man, might now suddenly be under attack. Anna huffed at the change in tone and replied:

"For old time's sake."

"Fine." Said Hans.

Five minutes later and Anna had lost Hans. In fact, she had also lost her bearings. But as Anna looked around her, she realised with a certain anxious excitement that she was most certainly lost. Lost in her own castle-the thought was absurd. But then again, she wasn't exactly in her castle either. The hide and seek game had prompted her to leave the monotonous indoors-she knew them all and she knew Hans knew them all. It was only logical she should go outside and into the gardens; the summer sun had yet to set, hovering several inches above the horizon; there was light enough.

'Well… maybe not so logical' she thought.

Fir pines hemmed her in from all sides; standing like tall dark giants, they blocked out what remained of the evening light. What had happened was this: Anna, while roaming the garden, had decided to plunge into the fir pines. She knew there was a waterfall somewhere in the pine forest, and a ledge that let a far sighted man see all of Arendelle; a splendid place to be found. However, on her way there, she had noticed a ravine sloping down towards a part of the castle she had never been: close to the sea wall and the crashing waves. Her interest tickled, she tried to climb down, only for an unseen tree root to hasten her descent with a tumble.

Anna picked herself up off the ground, her green dress dirtied by the loamy earth. Pine needles stuck out of her hair and clung to her undergarments; educated princess indeed, she looked more like a farmer's daughter.

'Running off and getting lost… Not my best idea.' She thought wryly.

Anna looked around her. It was dark, not pitch black, but a few shades deeper than evening. The tree branches hung low, their boughs looking like dark fur covered arms sweeping over the ground. Tentatively, Anna peered through the gathered gloom. Suddenly, to the right she fancied she saw a little light. In that direction Anna went and found that it was the light of a torch mounted on the stone wall of the Arendelle castle. Anna breathed a sigh of relief-as long as she had the castle in sight; she'd be able to find her way somehow.

Walking towards the light, Anna saw to her astonishment that the light shone over the entrance of a dark tunnel. Closer still, Anna could see the moss and weeds hanging off the stony arch that framed the tunnel. A flight of stairs leading to the dark stone tunnel were chiselled into the castle wall, they seemed to be well trodden and not a plant sprouted from their well smoothed surfaces. With the utmost caution Anna approached the steps; her thoughts ran wild and her imagination ran wilder. By the time she the top of the stairs, Anna was prepared to face anything from giant man-eating spiders to the Cretan labyrinth.

Anna stood at the entrance and peered into the darkness; she was surprised that the tunnel sloped upwards and that further up, there were more torches, their flames casting a gentle glow onto the smooth cobblestones.

"Well, I did say I wanted to go exploring...but...that was a...joke." Anna muttered to herself. "Well, since I've already made it this far, I might as well."

Her words were more for her own morale than anything. Taking a deep breath in, Anna strode forward into the tunnel. Pressing a hand to the cobblestone wall, Anna took the next flight of stairs in her stride. The torches came at regular intervals so that she never walked in total darkness, nevertheless, an abundance of spiders on the ceiling kept her on her toes. Suddenly Anna shivered. She looked in amazement as her breath misted before her; for some reason it was getting colder the further down the tunnel she went. There were no spiders now, and the moss that had been so abundant near the entrance was totally absent. Pressing a hand to the stone, Anna retracted the hand with a gasp of amazement-the stone was ice cold and covered in a layer of water droplets.

Anna walked on; this tunnel was too strange not to see to the end. The tunnel was leveling off into a stony corridor. Strangely, the stone work stopped here. The rest of the tunnel, incredibly, was wrought with cast iron. Anna gazed in mute astonishment at the feat of engineering, wondering just how hard it must have been to cover the walls and ceiling in metal. Beside her, on the wall, hung a fur coat; beneath it was a jug of water and a loaf of bread on a platter.

But Anna was not interested in these seemingly out of place items; she could see the end of the tunnel now. A great iron door stared at her from under the soft shine of a torch, sputtering pathetically over the door frame.

"Okay?"

The princess of Arendelle glanced around and shivered again-it was supposed to be summer. Heavens, it _was_ summer, but she could see the frost patterns crawl over the cobblestone ground.

"I didn't know we had a freezer…" she said, thinking aloud. "Is this where they keep the ice cream?"

The remark wasn't funny but Anna giggled anyway. This entire 'exploring' thing had blown so much beyond her wildest hopes that she felt a little light headed.

Anna looked around, stared at the fur coat and the water, stared at the ice encrusted ground, stared at the massive iron door, and realised she had no idea what to do. There was nothing more to find here; she had gone down the tunnel and reached the end. For someone who had been prepared to fight giant monsters, Anna was rather disillusioned by the iron cage she found herself looking at. At least the ice was interesting: a tunnel into the castle had no business being so cold in the the middle of summer. Perhaps she'd ask about it when she got back: Kai might be interested, Hans would certainly get an ear full. In her mind it was already determined, she was bringing Hans the next time she visited this strange tunnel (which would probably be some ungodly hour later in the night).

Anna turned to leave, then nearly jumped out of her skin in fright- someone had just coughed behind her. Anna whipped around like she'd been stung, only to find herself staring at the same old iron door. There was no one there- no vengeful specter had suddenly appeared, no mournful ghost, no terrifying phantom. Just the door and…

"Hello?"

Anna clutched her hands to her heart; she thought she was going to have a heart attack. The shock of hearing a human voice in a place she had assumed to be devoid of life was immense. Anna stood frozen to the ground, staring at the iron door. Then the thought hit her and she couldn't help but say it.

"Dear God, there's someone in there."

The voice came again:

"Hello? Is someone there?"

And Anna's eyes simply grew wider. It was a girl. The voice was a bit hoarse, and a bit thin, but it was without doubt the voice of a girl-her age too, if voices were anything to gauge age by.

"Um. Yes!" Anna blurted out. "I'm here."

"Is there… Do you have any water?"

Anna fumbled for a response, before remembering that there was a bowl of water under the fur coat. She retrieved it hastily and, finding there to be a latch on the bottom of the door, opened the latch and slid the water through. The bowl disappeared quickly and there was the sound of someone drinking greedily from the other side.

There was a pause, and then.

"Is there…?"

Anna knew what the girl wanted-she already held the loaf of bread in her hands. She sniffed it and immediately determined it to be at best stale, and at worst, toxic. To give someone such an unpleasant morsel was nothing short of the purest cruelty, and Anna quickly resolved that she would do no such evil.

"Please."

The girl's request had become a high pitched whine, causing Anna's heart to clench itself up into a most uncomfortable knot. After a long internal deliberation, Anna slid the loaf of bread through the latch. However, as the sounds of tearing bread drifted to her ears, she promised herself that she would visit whenever possible with a morsel from her own table.

A muffled 'thank you' was heard. Anna didn't smile.

The silence that followed was both unpleasant and lengthy. Finally, Anna, feeling all the unease of the stifling silence, endeavoured to speak.

"Who are you?"

Silence.

Anna realised that there wasn't much she could say that sounded proper for the situation. Given that she'd never even dreamed up such a situation, she could be forgiven. She tried again.

"I'm Anna, princess of Arendelle. Pray, what is your name?"

There came from behind the iron door a metallic scraping noise, like chains being dragged over the cold hard rock. Meanwhile Anna, not one to be offended by the continued silence, ran up to the great metal door and looked all over it. There were a great many bolts fastening the door to the wall. They were all connected, by a complicated system of levers, to a great big lock on the side of the door. Anna had no key, and even if she did, it would have been a difficult task getting the door to open considering the keyhole was chock-full of ice.

"Why's there so much ice?" Anna muttered to herself as she studied the door intently. She looked for anything that might help her pry the thing open, any screws she could unfasten. Not a chance-the door was solidly locked in place. She did however; remember the sliding latch on the bottom of the great steel door. Anna slid the thing open and, letting her curiosity take her, lay down on the ground so she could peek through it. The ground was ice cold; causing her to shorten her stay on the ground for fear her hands might go numb forever. She managed to catch a glimpse of two dainty white feet, albeit grimy from the bare footedness, backed into the farthest corner of the room. A long, heavy looking chain hung down past the dark blue skirt and was fixed to some point beyond her range of vision. Anna did not see much else for the girl inside gave a startled gasp; the feet rushed over and Anna suddenly found a pile of books dumped in front of the peeping hole.

"Well that's rude." Said Anna, getting up and rubbing her nose.

Anna sighed, shivering. Looking around her, she frowned at the ice and asked.

"Aren't you cold, in there?"

"No." Came the flat reply.

"What? There's ice all over the walls and you aren't even wearing shoes. How can you not be cold?"

This time the silence lasted so long, Anna almost left. At the last moment, however, just as Anna was about to drag herself away from this most strange of discoveries, the girl spoke.

"Magical witch powers." Came the reply.

"Right..." said Anna, half incredulous, half confused. She decided that she wasn't going to buy it.

"Princess Anna, ma'am, you should go now." Said the other girl.

"What?"

The sigh from behind the door this time was audible.

"People will be looking for you. People who care for you will get worried and wonder where you've gone if you stay any longer. The sun's already set."

"Oh."

Anna saw the truth in the statement.

"Oh, Hans, and Kai, and uncle…"

Turning back to the iron door, Anna made an apologetic smile before remembering the other girl couldn't see her.

"Well, I'll be going then. Um, yeah, I'm going now. See you again."

"Actually, it would be better if you don't come back. At all."

Anna stuck out her bottom lip.

"Not a chance; I'll be back here tomorrow at the same time. Wait for me."

And with that, she was off, hurrying down the tunnel. Hans was going to get the earful of his life when she found him.

...

That night, as Anna got dressed for bed, she looked up and saw Kai enter with a glass of milk. Accepting it with a smile, she took a sip and sat down on the side of her bed.

"And Ma'am, your dress will be ready for you by tomorrow morn. I do hope you avoid any more tumbling down hills, hide and seek is only fun when you know where you are hiding. I daresay you had Prince Hans in quite the bind-we almost sent out a search and rescue party." The butler gave her a tender smile.

"Thankfully you came back in once piece. You'd think we'd be used to you doing such things seeing how often this has happened before."

Anna finished her milk. She wasn't listening-her mind was still far away, down an icy tunnel where the witch dwelt. Seeing Kai was about to leave, Anna coughed and said.

"Kai, would you mind staying a little longer?"

The butler turned around, surprised.

"Ma'am?"

Anna kicked her feet. Taking the hint that Anna was still mulling whatever she had in mind, Kai did the smart thing and drew a chair for himself beside her. Anna looked at her trusty butler, wondering if she would have a better reception here than it did with Hans.

Hans, at any rate, was so relieved when he finally found her he had kissed her on the forehead and hugged her for a full minute. But after that, he was too busy proving her safety to the concerned household of the Arendelle castle than to listen to her story about the tunnel and the girl and the ice.

Anna looked into her empty glass and said:

"I wasn't being completely honest when I said I had fallen asleep in the tree I was hiding in."

Kai looked at Anna, surprise evident on his face. But he spoke not; he had wisdom enough to realise that the princess was to be allowed to ramble on till the end without interruption. His gut told him that Anna not being 'completely honest' was the understatement of the year.

"I fell down somewhere, and, well, that's not important. I found a tunnel...no, a prison, in the side of the castle I've never seen before. At first I thought it was the old abandoned dungeons I had read about in a book, but those were flooded so it couldn't be because this one had torches all the way through. I had to climb up a long flight of stairs and the tunnel itself was going up into the castle itself- I can't help wondering why I've never come across it before, I mean, it's so close to the royal gardens and everything."

Anna was staring at her socks while she spoke, so she was blind to the changes that had come upon Kai. As Anna described in detail the tunnel, the torches, the metal and the stairs, Kai's face had gone strangely white. His eyes had widened with the shock of realisation; and soon after, had become glued to the ground.

At this moment the princess turned and looked at Kai, eyes sparkling with a renewed disbelief at her own story.

"And Kai, there was a girl in the prison. I mean, I don't know for sure because I couldn't see her but I could tell from the voice. And I don't think she's that much older than me, unless she's an old woman with a lady's voice, then ugh-" Anna made a face. But her attention was soon drawn away from her story and focused on Kai; for the butler hand his face in his hands and his elbows leaning on his knees and he looked as if he was in mortal terror.

"Kai? What's wrong. You look like you've seen a ghost."

Anna looked around the room, just to check there weren't any real ghosts lurking about. Kai stayed deathly silent. At length, he stiffly, the butler placed a heavy hand on Anna's shoulder and said in a whisper.

"Princess Anna, you don't know what you've just seen."

"I think I do." retorted the princess.

Kai ignored her and persisted.

"I trust you haven't told of this encounter to anyone?"

"I told Hans, but he wasn't listening. I haven't had the time to tell anybody else."

"Good." Kai swallowed thickly and said again: "I'm dreadfully sorry to ask this of you, but please Princess Anna, trust me when I say that you would do very well to speak of this excursion to nobody. No one can know about the tunnel- it is an unhappy accident that brought you there."

Anna blinked, frowning.

"Is it because of the witch?" She said.

"The what?"

"The girl, she said she was a witch. She said that was why she wasn't cold even with all the ice and everything."

"A witch?"

"Yes." Anna looked at him, puzzled at the sudden request for reconfirmation. Kai could only sigh and shake his head.

"Anyway, Princess Anna, promise me you won't tell a soul about this. Prince Hans is smart enough to know sensitive information when he hears it and wise enough to keep his mouth shut around the wrong people."

"I won't tell a soul. I swear, I promise." Said Anna; placing a hand over her heart to emphasize the point. Kai nodded and took his hand off Anna's shoulders.

"Good."

After a moment, he added.

"I'm sorry about my rudeness ma'am. But the less you know about her the better; and as long as other people don't find out, you will be spared a world of hurt. If the wrong people find out that you've spoken to her, your life will be in danger."

"My life?" Asked Anna; astonished. "How can talking to a lonely girl in a frozen prison endanger my life?"

Kai realised he had just stepped on a metaphorical land mine.

"I will tell you more tomorrow, princess. Now, you simply must go to bed and sleep. Your tutors will not be happy if you miss another morning lesson by sleeping in."

The princess stared at her socks and nodded slowly. Looking up, she gave him a faint smile so as to reassure him that she could keep her promises.

"Thanks Kai. Sorry for, well, jumping you with all this. I'm in over my head aren't I?" She gave a mirthless chuckle.

Kai smiled sadly.

"I'm afraid so, princess Anna."

Anna sighed and collapsed back onto her bed.

"Good night."

The moon had already begun its descent before Anna finally shut her eyes to sleep.


	2. Promise

Chapter 2: Promise.

Now Anna was not one to break a promise; when she told the girl in the dungeon she was going to be visiting, she meant it. Indeed a day did not go by that she did not consider sneaking off back to the tunnel. However, it was a whole fortnight before such a chance was presented to her; the wrath of her tutors was substantial and kept Anna from the pleasures of extracurricular activities till she had finished her homework, which, considering that she had skipped two whole days of lessons, had become quite overwhelming.

Hans left the next day after lunch. It would have been rude for him to leave before he had a chance to properly say goodbye. After all, this may be his last visit in quite a while. He fulfilled that part of his obligations by taking a lengthy stroll through the flower gardens with Anna once she had managed to rid herself of her tutors (the politics tutor was more than happy for the two to go on their garden date; the math tutor however, wasn't so pleased). The fine weather persisted and with summer at its height, the flowers were in full splendor.

Anna flitted between the flower beds like a butterfly while Hans was content to simply stroll, examining the odd flower precious enough to hold Anna's attention for longer than a few seconds. It was when the young prince was sure they were no longer within the range of prying eyes that he finally came to a stop.

Anna sneezed.

"Anna."

"Yes?" Said Anna; rubbing her nose.

"Where exactly did you find the girl in the dungeon?"

Anna blinked and looked at Hans intently. Clearly, she did not expect such a question to be posed; nevertheless she rose to the occasion. Brushing aside some loose hairs, Anna gestured vaguely towards the pine forests that sloped down from the mountains to the coast.

"There was a tunnel somewhere there. Well, a dungeon, if you want to call it that. Nothing like the dungeons drawn in the book but…" Anna stopped her ramble before it could escape her. Her gaze, settled intently on her friend's face, trying to determine his mood and perhaps uncover a reason to his sudden interest. Hans, for his part, merely looked grave and said in reply:

"And you have told no one about this?"

"Well, I told Kai...and he got really worked up about it. He told me that I should just forget the whole thing. He said that if I told anyone, my life would be in danger…"

"And did you tell anyone?"

It was Anna's turn to frown now.

"Hans." She said, as if the name itself could be used as a reproach.

"Anna, this is important. Did you tell anyone apart from me and Kai?"

"No."

The prince of the southern isles nodded his head slowly and sighed. Cupping his chin in his hand, he stared absent-mindedly into the nearest flower bed. Anna, now decidedly nervous, put a hand on his arm and asked:

"Hans, why is this a big deal? I know I'm in over my head but no one would tell me anything. I mean the girl told me that she was a witch, but I thought all witches were old women with cloaks, crows, magic flowers and poisoned apples."

"I don't know. I'm sorry, Anna, I don't know. But Kai talked to me this morning after tea and he made it very clear that this was to stay a secret; buried, if possible; or better, forgotten."

"Oh, but Hans, she was so miserable."

This statement drew from Hans such a sharp glare that Anna recoiled. Fortunately he soon looked away. Hans sighed; knowing Anna, it was possible that she would try to see the girl again. No, it was not only probably, it was guaranteed. Anna was a kind soul; the loss of her sister all those years ago had only made her more caring and sympathetic. It was a rare quality of the soul to be made more wholesome through loss, but in this instance, he was convinced it would only get her into more trouble.

But he knew Anna. From such an endeavour, he was sure, she would not be gainsaid. To even defy her in such matters was to invite her scorn. So Hans didn't even try, but he wished to all the stars above that Anna wouldn't land herself deeper into the mess she was already in waist deep. The prince of the southern isles put his hand on Anna's arm, reassuring her of his good intentions.

"Be careful, Anna." He said.

Anna smiled back sweetly and said: "I will. Don't worry."

A week after Hans had left, Anna found herself finally fulfilling her promise.

By the time Anna found the tunnel, the sun had dipped low on the horizon. The sky was cotton candy pink, and the clouds were on fire. Moving through the thick colonnade of pines, Anna stopped briefly to marvel at the colour of the sky-a crimson hue had settled over the entire starry expanse with gold lining the edges of the clouds. Tearing herself away from the view, Anna pushed on into the woods.

As she neared the tunnel entrance, Anna peered around cautiously. It was just like the first time she had seen it- the torch burning at the entrance and the dark stairway leading up to the prison.

"Aren't there supposed to be guards?" Anna whispered to herself. A minute later, seeing no such thing appear, Anna took a deep breath and headed up the stony stairs. The climb was shorter than what she remembered; soon she stood facing the giant iron door, her breath misting into a cold fog that quickly latched itself onto the surrounding walls. She noticed that this time, the bowl and the platter were empty. Had someone already fed her? Of course-there must have always been someone delivering food to the prisoner; how else was she alive?

'Well those people aren't very diligent,' thought Anna, considering the food had just been left out the last time she visited.

Cautiously she approached the door and knocked. The knocking produced a muffled hollow ringing sound that startled Anna. She glanced down the tunnel, wondering if anyone else had heard. Seeing no one come and no one answer her knock, she knocked again.

"Hey, I'm back." She said. She heard shuffling inside and the sound of moving chains. 'Aha', she thought, 'you are still in there'. But apart from the shuffling, there was no answer. Anna frowned and knocked again.

"Look, I know you're still there. It's me, Anna. I told you I'd come back so here I am."

The response came this time- the same soft voice, though less hoarse than last time but just as hesitant.

"Princess?"

"Call me Anna."

"Why did you come? I thought I told you to stay away."

"Hey, I keep my promises." Anna, sat down (ignoring the freezing cold of the stones), grabbed the platter, and began to fill it with the contents of her satchel. There wasn't much- just a few cookies and a bottle of milk. It was supposed to be her supper but since Kai had given it to her rather early today, Anna decided that it would be more appreciated here. The second cookie had hardly left her fingers before she heard the sound of someone sniffing on the other side of the door. The question came a few seconds later:

"What are you doing?"

Anna looked up, astonished. "You can smell that?"

"Oh never mind...please, princess, you can't stay here. If the guards find you…"

Anna happily ignored the advice and finished loading the platter with cookies. Opening the latch, she pushed the cookies in and rolled the bottle of milk in after. What followed could only be called a stunned silence. Anna stood up and grinned, waiting for the response. It came soon enough.

"You...you brought me...cookies?"

"And milk," said Anna.

There was another period of silence, and then:

"Why?"

"Fastest way to a girl's heart is through her stomach."

"What?"

Anna thought she heard a chuckle on the other side of the door. She giggled too and said: "Oh, just a saying I heard from one of the chefs."

A minute of silence later and Anna was afraid she'd killed the conversation. Then, suddenly, she heard the distinctive crunch of a biscuit being bitten. There was an indistinct noise of chains being shuffled over the ground, one more crunch; and then silence.

Someone sniffled on the other side of the door. It was a loud noise and quite un-womanly.

Anna stood in front of the door, staring at the metal work with an eyebrow raised. She needed to leave-she knew that-but did she just bring the girl to tears with a platter of bedtime biscuits and a glass of milk? Surely a prisoner of such a lonesome prison was made of sterner stuff.

Anna didn't know whether to be worried or delighted-her gift had been heartily accepted, but she dared not think what might happen should she bring something more substantial: a few pieces of roast and some potatoes, or something similar (that had been the original plan, but her uncle had joined her for dinner. She couldn't sneak off with a few bites of food with him there could she?). At any rate, Anna needed to leave before her absence became noticed.

"Goodbye," said the princess.

As she turned to leave, there came a reply: all hushed and mumbled.

"Thank you."

Anna smiled and replied:

"See you next time."

To this the girl in the prison gave no verbal response, only the crunch of another cookie.

* * *

One year later:

Anna hurried up the stone stairs as fast as her feet could carry her. Her satchel hung heavy at her side as she brushed her way past the flickering torches; she had something special today for the girl in the prison. She had decided that referring to the girl as a 'witch' was perhaps inappropriate. After all, witches were nasty old women who stirred pots and cackled; they weren't meant to enjoy cookies and milk, and they certainly weren't meant to cry.

Climbing the last few steps, Anna strode up to the door and knocked. For her purposes, she had already developed a secret knocking pattern: just so the girl inside could tell if it was her or if it was in fact the guards. As hoped for, there was the sound of shuffling chains and a scraping noise that indicated someone was sitting against the door.

"Hey." Anna said.

"Princess."

Anna smiled. After her fourth visit the girl had given up telling her to go away. Whether it was the continual gift of milk and cookies, or simple loneliness, Anna did not know; but eventually the girl told her the schedule of the guards and their favored routines. To Anna's delight, it soon became known to her that the guards posted here were minimal-two a day to cater for her meals (and even then they sometimes did not show). The morning guard would come before sunrise and be replaced by the evening guard at around midday. However, neither guards were diligent, with the evening guard leaving in the evening instead of guarding into the night; they often shirked their duties and proved truant. All the better for Anna, now she could time her visits. If she arrived after the evening guard left, she could spend the whole night outside the cell with no one the wiser. Tonight was the first of her planned escapees and she had brought something with her to celebrate.

"You know, you still haven't told me your name," said Anna.

An uneasy silence followed, causing Anna to sigh. She'd tried these questions before and had been met with nothing every time. In fact, whenever her questions became more personal, the girl in the prison simply stopped talking and waited for her to change the subject. In all cases, Anna obliged.

"Well, uh, never mind that."

She sat down and opened her satchel. The effect was immediate: a warm, rich aroma invaded the stale dungeon air. Though the cold dampened the splendor, the smell still stole the very colour from the dreary prison cell. Anna smiled as she retrieved the food platter (discarding the stale bread); she could hear the other girl sniffing the air greedily. From within the satchel she produced a collection of morsels which she had managed to sneak away from the dinner table; specifically: two chicken drumsticks, a piece of broccoli and a few baked potatoes. These were all wrapped carefully in paper so as to prevent them from spoiling. Anna could not help but grin as she unveiled the various foods, placed them on the platter, and slid them through the latch.

Silence followed. If Anna had expected a joyous expression of thanks, or a long speech woven through with emotion, she would have been thoroughly disappointed, for the girl said not a word; only the rustling of chains could be heard along with a metallic scraping noise. Luckily, Anna had expected such cold treatment; though the taste of bathos could not be wholly expelled from her mouth, the princess was satisfied with what she got. Settling down with her back against the great iron door and trying not to shiver, Anna did what she always did to combat the lonely silence: she talked.

From a young age, Anna had discovered that she had a talent for talking, or 'running her mouth', as her tutors would say. The tutors had waged a long and bitter war upon this most ignoble of traits; for with much words came vulgarity, and vulgarity must never be allowed to survive in royal blood. Unfortunately for them, Hans found Anna's rambling quite enjoyable; and allowed, nay, encouraged her gifts in speech. The tutors gave up the stalemate, reassuring themselves that with Anna, the wisdom that magically appears with adulthood would one day heal her of this verbal affliction. But Anna was only sixteen and by no means considered herself an adult. Thus, here, in the dark and the cold of the dungeon, Anna spoke to the girl in the iron prison. She rambled, words flowing naturally and endlessly on all manner of subjects. Soon, Anna had divulged all the bad habits of her math tutor, all the gossip surrounding her politics tutor, several chocolate recipes she had learnt from the head chef; the manner of her food; her thoughts on the weather; her thoughts on the books she had read, etc.

The other girl was content to simply listen, not speaking a word or rustling a chain for fear of interference. If Anna paused for too long, a soft "go on" might even be uttered. Thus encouraged, Anna spoke and spoke till finally there was a cough from the other room. She stopped mid-ramble, a little drained and feeling as if she'd just had a most wonderful conversation with the door.

"Princess, you should leave, soon." The reminder was gently given.

"Yes...I guess so."

Anna stood up stiffly, rubbing the cold out of her legs.

"That was a, um, good talk. Yeah. I'll be going now. Thanks for listening to me ramble and all."

The other girl coughed again and finally managed to say, in a hushed whisper:

"Thank you, princess."

"I told you, call me Anna."

And then she was off; tottering down the stone stairs and hoping she wouldn't need to explain her absence to anyone of consequence.

The princess was long gone before the first sobs started. It had been the first time in eight years since she'd tasted baked potatoes, much less chicken! Her staple diet of stale bread and water paled so much in comparison with these tender morsels as to become utterly inedible; but if not stale bread, then what would she eat?

She ended up throwing away the drumsticks in a fit of sensibility.


	3. Interlude

Author's note: I suppose now would be a good time to say: 'THANK YOU :D' to all of you who're taking an interest in this story I'm telling. Honestly, it feels rather strange to have people want to read my writing. I sincerely hope that I will keep all of you entertained till the the closing line of 'and they lived happily ever after'. Please post reviews, I want to know what you guys think.

Side note: I don't know why I'm calling the next two chapters 2.2 and 2.7. Somehow they just feel like an interlude. I hope this helps flesh things out.

Peace out.

* * *

 _Chapter 2.2: Two years._

With only one member of its royal family still alive, one might be forgiven for thinking that the monarchy of Arendelle was on its last legs. Indeed, when the news first spread it, was widely assumed that the golden days of the mighty seafaring nation were over. But it was not so. Though he would have blushed to be called the savior of Arendelle, the Steward-king Amund- first of his name- was nothing less than that. Suddenly reappearing from overseas after the tragic death of his brother and his sister in law, he offered his services to the Arendelle till his brother's last remaining daughter could be considered eligible for either marriage or ascension. So it was that Anna's uncle came to stay for good, not that there was much complaint; for though he was a stranger, he knew its customs and its people; and was possessed of so mild a humor it was hardly proper to dislike him. For his moods varied little and their shifts were subtle to the untrained; unless of course, he was provoked to anger- it is said that a quiet man's anger is the most fearsome all- and Amund was no exception. Few could withstand him in an hour of his ire. Luckily, these came few and far between.

Such was the man that sat in the throne room today, a humble butler kneeling at his feet. King Amund drew his eyebrows into a frown, a hand thoughtfully engulfing his chin. The news he had received was of the most peculiar nature- and peculiar was always unsettling. Nevertheless he did nothing but stare at the butler for the next minute, an exercise that caused the servant to sweat most uncomfortably. At length, he spoke.

"You say that the princess has discovered the whereabouts of the witch."

"Yes, my lord."

"And you believe that the princess has been visiting the witch in secret, around the time of sunset."

"Yes, your majesty."

A thoughtful hum escaped the lips of the king, his eyes still fixated on the bowed head of the butler. The man flinched, but finding a few seconds later that his head was still on his shoulders, allowed himself to breathe again. The king continued, his voice droning out his intentions with all the enthusiasm of a mannequin.

"Why have I been notified of this only now?"

"We needed to be sure, your majesty," The butler gulped nervously before continuing. "We weren't ready to trust the southern prince's words wholly till we had made our own observations."

With a sigh the king stood. His slow pacing steps took him around the throne, one hand trailing absentmindedly over the back of the royal chair. He spoke as he walked, without hurry or distraction; yet his frown deepened as he pondered the news.

"There are no laws that punish prisoners for receiving visitors in Arendelle. It is only logical that the one who initiates contact is the guilty party."

"The Princess then?"

The King stopped his meandering walk to stare at a large tapestry that hung behind the throne. He regarded the tapestry (depicting the first monarch of Arendelle- a girl by the name of Aren) for several seconds before responding.

"Yes, Princess Anna has violated several Arendelle laws, and, with the expectations placed upon her it would hurt us greatly should it become known that she is a law breaker. In this matter, I charge you with utmost secrecy. Meantime, allow Anna to continue her visits. I fear that we may provoke behaviour even more rash should we attempt to stop her."

The king turned around and bade the butler rise.

"The situation is unfortunate but not fatal. A man cannot be cured if there is no ailment. However, for prudence sake, bade that the ship's completion be hastened. No doubt the workers will complain that such a secret task cannot be hurried, but they will not disobey my orders. Now go, before Kai finds your absence suspicious."

* * *

For Anna, these visits became the secret norm for the next two years of her life: two years of sneaking down the ravine; traversing the pine tree grove; running up the stony stairs; and knocking on the great iron door. Each time she'd bring a little food, since that had worked so well the first few times; everything from roast lamb to Turkish delight passed through that little latch on the bottom of the door. Of course, the prisoner had tried to dissuade her- roast lamb had a very rich aroma and clung to the cave long after the actual piece of meat was disposed of; so did chicken, beef, mashed potatoes and garlic bread. Chocolate, however, was always welcome.

Each visit, Anna would repeat the established routine. She would deliver the food, have a crack at asking questions of varying depths, then sit down and talk while the other girl ate. Most of the time, the visit would only leave Anna a few cookies poorer; however, there were rare instances where the girl in the iron cage opened up about herself- if only slightly and very hesitantly. It was discovered one day that she was a great reader of books- books of all shapes and sizes; novels, histories, texts. Anna, a reader only by necessity, found it in her power to supply the prisoner with even more books. Another time, it was determined that the girl was three years Anna's senior.

The same age Anna's older sister would have been, had she not already joined the row of tombstones in the royal graveyard.

As Anna bounded up the stairs of the stony tunnel, she mused on how quickly time had passed. Summer had become autumn since her visits began. Autumn then quickly descended into winter; and with winter there came an unfortunate break in her visits, for she could no longer justify her escapades with a visit to the royal gardens. The tax upon her nerves was great; luckily she did not have to worry about the girl freezing to death. But what if the guards forget to feed her? How would she survive without her continual supply of milk and cookies? Thus distracted, Anna's year transitioned from winter into spring; by the time the snow had melted, she had almost forgotten about the girl in the dungeon. Her first visit of the year was one early summer's day.

It was already late into the evening before Anna could sneak out of the castle without causing much of a disturbance. The moon shone clear that night, letting Anna traverse the tree clustered terrain without so much as a stumble. Soon, Anna stood in front of the giant iron door.

She had forgotten how big it was.

Hesitantly she inched forwards, making a face every time her shoes went 'click' on the ground beneath.

"Hey." She said. "It's me, Anna. Sorry for not visiting you for so long. It was winter and I couldn't go outside and then, yeah…"

She was greeted with stone cold silence.

"You're still alive right?" Anna's heart fluttered for a moment when all she had in response was silence.

"Hello?" She asked again.

"Anna?" Came the reply.

The princess breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, it's me." And then- "You still haven't told me your name yet."

A familiar silence returned. It played on Anna's nerves; she'd had hoped that maybe after such a long absence, something would have changed. Maybe the girl would be more talkative? She didn't know what to expect. Anna crossed her arms, pouting at the door.

"After all this time, you still won't tell me your name? I'm getting offended here." She grumbled.

A muffled "ok" drifted out from behind the door. Anna let her arms fall to her sides- there was no way for her to stay angry; not even mildly irritated. Sitting down on the ground, she found to her surprise that the stony floor was no longer ice cold; in fact, most of the ice was gone- even from the walls and the ceiling. It was certainly strange; but Anna had more important things to deal with at the moment than the lack of ice.

"I brought you cake." She said, her face hardly containing the huge grin she was now sporting. "It's my birthday, and we had lots left over (I don't think Hans likes cake all that much), so I thought, well, why not? And I needed an apology present after, well, leaving you by yourself all these months. At first I was worried you would freeze to death- you have no idea I was so worried- but then I remembered you had the whole ice thing sorted and then I wasn't so worried anymore. After that I just kind of forgot- I'm sorry, I really am. But I'm here now and uh…"

Anna slid the piece of cake through the latch, as per custom, on the metal plate.

"Enjoy… I told you it was my birthday right?"

A giggle came from the girl on the other side.

"I know."

"You do? Oh, I told you already. Haha, um…"

Anna leaned on the iron door and slid into a sitting position. After finishing her ramble, she was temporarily out of things to say. At times like these, Anna did her best to enjoy the silence- as her math tutor told her more than once: silence is golden.

"You're seventeen now, aren't you?" Said the other girl, out of the blue.

"Yeah."

Anna blinked, looked at the door out of the corner of her eye and asked:

"Wait, how did you know that?"

"Magic."

"What? That doesn't explain anything," laughed Anna.

"I'm a witch, I can do magic. Of course I can find out how old you are."

To this, Anna merely made an 'hmmf' sound. She suspected the other girl was having a laugh. A peaceful silence settled on the two girls; the type that only comes after intense conversation; one tended to run out of things to say when the one hasn't even seen the other person for over a month; and with Anna's rambling, it took even less time to exhaust the usual topics. A few minutes later, just as Anna was about to fall asleep against the door, the other girl spoke.

"Elizabeth."

Anna blinked the sleep out of her eyes and yawned.

"What?"

"Elizabeth. My name's Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth what?"

"Just...Elizabeth."

"Oh…"

The name had a familiar ring to it. Anna frowned at this, for it was a slippery feeling that seemed to slide through your fingers. So she asked:

"Have I, we, met before?"

Silence.

Anna shook her head, coming to a final conclusion.

"No, sorry, it's just that Elizabeth has a nice ring to it."

Still silence; but this time, Anna didn't know what to say. Her mind was roaming for things to talk about, and as she was drowsy, used this opportunity to slip into less explored areas of conversation.

"Have I ever told you about my uncle?"

"No."

"He just moved in one day, well, after the accident...The accident." Anna paused, unwilling to dwell on that line of thought for much longer.

"He's not bad, as uncles go. There are so many stories out there about bad uncles, I was scared when he first came. But then he wasn't that bad. I mean he's pretty bad when he loses his temper, but that's when I do something stupid like break a leg-"

"You broke your leg?" The interjection was rather sudden.

"Yeah, my left leg after I fell off the balcony. Not important. Anyway, as I was saying- he's not that bad. He'd get angry, sure; and he's also really naggy about my homework and my education- ugh. But once you get over those, he's actually kind of nice."

"Huh."

"Well, he did have to take over from everything after Mom, and Dad, and Elsa…" Anna stopped and twiddled her thumbs.

"Did I ever tell you I had a sister? Well, yeah, I had- Had. But that was all so long ago."

Anna sighed, the other girl sighed too.

"You know, I don't even remember what they look like. We only ever had one picture painted, and that was before I could walk. At least I can remember mom and dad. Kai's been digging up old family stuff a lot these days; he even let me read mom's secret diary- I'm only on page twelve though; mom hadn't even married dad at that point."

Anna giggled, and then sighed. Her mind, being the nostalgic sort, was common prey to sensible recollections. All her childhood memories were bathed in what she would describe as a 'golden-ish hazy light'. Of course, there was the one memory that was not; it was forbidden territory.

"You know, we even visited their graves today. It's part of tradition, or something- honoring those who couldn't be with us. Uncle made it sound all so formal. Sorry…" Anna sniffed. "I'm starting to ramble again, aren't I? I get carried away. I don't even know why I said that; it just sort of got away from me."

The girl on the other side was silent. Anna looked at the door, a worried expression on her face. Twisting her body, she tapped her knuckles on the cold iron.

"Did you fall asleep listening to me?"

"No." Came the response. "I'm fine."

"That's a relief," said Anna, standing stiffly.

"Well, I'll need to get going now. I really can't fall asleep here- that would be bad. Very bad, if that happened."

"Yeah, it would." Came the reply.

"Anyway, uh, bye. I've got to go, for bed. Kai's going to kill me if I oversleep again."

"Good night, Princess Anna. Thank you for the cake."

"You're most welcome. You told me your name so I guess we're even. See you tomorrow, Elizabeth… hold on, can I call you Lizzy for short?"

"Call me anything."

"Good night Lizzy."

"Good night."

By the end of those years, the prisoner had evolved from simply 'the witch' to being a soft spoken lady called Elizabeth, the same age as Hans; who was talented in drawing, reading, singing and chocolate tasting. She had also become Anna's good friend- as good as friends could get when visited only twice a week and requiring a mandatory offering of food.

Yet despite the development of a stable routine, Anna's heart grew uneasy; for it came to her attention that the prisoner could not always be left in the prison (unless they were serving life imprisonment). Had she not known, then perhaps it might have been so- the girl would have lived and died in prison; but now that she did know, she required closure. For obvious reasons, Anna was not prepared to live out her life contentedly while her good friend was starved and isolated in an ice encrusted cell that no one knew about. She had read somewhere that such prolonged periods of isolation often pushed the unfortunate to insanity: a perfectly horrid thought. There were times when she debated telling uncle; he was after all, the Steward-King, ruler of Arendelle. But Kai's warnings inspired her to wisdom. If the girl was indeed a witch of the most dangerous kind, the king would end all such visiting if he got even the slightest whiff of the business.

In the end, Anna decided that the only consolation lay in her own eventual ascension. When she became queen, the girl would be a prisoner no more. A happy dream, and she clung to with great determination. Soon she would wed Hans (she had no qualms about that); then she would be Queen of Arendelle and she would be able to do whatever she wanted.

* * *

 _Visitations:_

The clouds had loomed all morning, threatening to rain. They clogged the skies shut, choking out the light till nothing was left but a dreary gloom. It was almost noon, yet the air was still damp with the memory of yesterday's deluge. Anna looked out the window and sighed, devoid of her usual energy. It was typical spring weather in Arendelle.

Princess Anna's gaze drifted from her window and back to the large body-length mirror in front of her. The girl in the mirror stared back, expression inscrutable; though Anna guessed from the way she held her jaw that there might be a little sadness creeping in to defile the otherwise stoic complexion.

"Princess Anna?" Came a voice from outside her door. "Ma'am? We're ready to go when you are."

"Be there in a minute, Kai." Anna's response bordered on automatic. She fiddled with the lace the held the black bonnet over her neatly braided hair. Black wasn't a colour she usually allowed in her wardrobe, but today it was the only thing she was wearing. Anna made a face at the colour choice, but resigned herself to it. In a way, it was fitting; after all, today was the grave visit.

It was the first grave visit in quite a while. Even Kai was surprised when Anna approached him with the idea. Anna knew; after all, the grave visits had been stopped on her request- she found them far too painful to have them be as regular as once a year. This year, however, Anna felt the need to go. When asked by Kai as to the cause of the sudden change of heart, Anna had no real response, just the gut feeling that it was about time. It had been two years since she last saw the three large rocks, sticking out of the hillside like teeth from a giant's gums.

"Princess Anna?" Came the call from the door.

Anna blinked, snapping out of her revere.

"Coming!"

Hurrying to the door, she opened it and was greeted by the old butler.

"Sorry Kai," she said, "I got a little lost in daydreaming."

The butler simply nodded and ushered her to the stables. They were to make the journey on horseback.

The graves lay just outside of the township, past a small gorge, on the top of a small earthen mound. It wasn't a terribly long journey as far as day trips went. Anna, Kai, and the two guards that were escorting them, made it to through the gorge before the afternoon was done.

The group dismounted upon reaching the earthen burial mound. A man by the name of Theodore (Anna recognized him as one of the people from the King's council) came to greet them. He was a duke of somewhere or other, Anna had forgotten. He was tall slim fellow, with an exceptionally bushy moustache dangling from the end of a thin ridged nose that looked very much like the beak of a parrot. Anna could not help but compare him mentally to some sort of well-dressed scarecrow.

"I am here on behalf of the steward-king Amund. His majesty sends his sincere regrets that he could be here in person."

Anna politely curtseyed and replied: "The apology is humbly accepted, Duke…"

"Bergen," whispered Kai in her ear.

"Burg..?" Anna paused and shot a quick glance sideways at Kai.

"Bergen," repeated the butler with the utmost patience.

"Bergen." Anna confirmed that she did not need to be told a third time.

She didn't mind her uncle's absence; not because he had somehow invoked her ire through constant neglect, but simply because he wasn't the sort Anna would invite to anything. Perhaps he knew, and that was why an obscure duke was sent in his stead. The man bowed stiffly like a reed in the wind.

"Let us tarry not." He even sounded like a parrot.

The soft and loamy earth slung to Anna's boots as she trudged towards the stones with her entourage. The earth, still damp, made allowance for her every step upwards. The scent of pine and damp grass saturated the air; in the distance, a fog could be seen rolling down towards them from the nearby mountains.

Finally, the group stood in front of the grave site. Three enormous rocks were sunk into the earth on the pinnacle of the hill and stood there like three shrouded trolls. Anna drifted towards the rocks while the others stood a respectable distance away. The surfaces of the rocks were still wet and slimy with condensation, not to mention the healthy covering of green moss and other survivalist plants that had taken hold over the many years of neglect. Tentatively, Anna reached out and brushed away some of the foliage that had begun to cover the name plaques. Her hand came away glistening with moisture.

'In Loving memory of King Agnar, first of his name.'

'In Loving memory of Queen Idunn.'

Arendelle tomb inscriptions tended to fall on the short and succinct side of things.

'In loving memory of Princess Elsa.'

This last rock was smaller than the previous two. Anna didn't know why she only saw the size difference now, but then found that it hardly mattered. Here, in front of this smallest of monuments Anna tarried. Then, turning to the onlookers she said: "May I have a minute?"

Kai glanced at the guards, who in turn glanced at the duke.

"Very well, princess; if you need us, we will be within earshot," said Kai, expressing the silent consensus. He had on his face a knowing look that was too polite to be a frown, but too tight lipped to be a smile- he knew that the last time Anna asked for alone time with Elsa's rock, she had sat there talking to it for three hours straight.

The guards turned and left with Kai; and though the Duke of Bergen was hesitant to leave, he eventually had to join the others; leaving Anna alone with the rocks. The princess wandered around them before finally deciding that sitting down on the damp grass was still preferable to standing around. Sitting on her legs and leaning on the least of the monuments, Anna found a position comfortable enough to facilitate a conversation with a rock.

"H-Hey…" she began, before lapsing into silence. She had forgotten what she wanted to say. "Elsa, it's me…again…"

She slid a hand over her eyes. Of course Elsa would know it was her; assuming of course that Elsa could even hear her from under the rock. Anna shivered- that was an unfortunate line of thought.

"Elsa… I just… I don't know." Her speech stopped and started, then stopped again like a dying heartbeat. "I guess what I wanted to say…what I mean is… sorry for not visiting for so long."

That was assuming dead people could miss the living.

"Assuming you miss me of course."

Pause.

"I… don't know what to say; maybe because I have too much to say? Or maybe it's because I'm a scatterbrain. Mark, the math tutor called me that the other day after he found out I was doodling instead of practicing his equations. It wasn't very smart of me was it? He made me copy down those equations till I could recite it in my sleep- one page, one equation, over and over and over. I totally had it coming, I guess. Remember that time you forgot to do your mathematics homework? I think you stayed up late with that sketchbook of yours drawing castles, yes Elsa, I know about your sketchbook. You weren't exactly subtle. Mark thought that the world was ending, what with the expression on his face."

Here Anna did her best to replicate that expression.

"'Princess Elsa wizout her homework?'" Anna did her best impression of her tutor's Austrian accent. "Ze end iz nigh! (Or something along those lines, I'm making it up Elsa; you can't expect me to remember everything)." Anna chuckled: she knew she sounded ridiculous.

"But yeah, you were his star pupil and everything. Believe it or not, your favorite seat is still in the classroom. It's at the back in a corner; I don't think he had the heart to get rid of it…though to be honest I wish he did. I mean, it's not like you'll be…" Anna paused, lips pressed tightly together. When she continued her voice was a few tones quieter, and the topic was completely different.

"Hans didn't come for my birthday this year. Can you believe it?" Anna did her best to sound indignant. "Instead I get this polite, long winded letter about his duties as prince of the southern isles. It was so full of butter the chefs could have probably baked a cake with it; he thinks I can't tell when he's trying to flatter me." Anna's sigh turned to mist before her eyes. The mist from the mountains was beginning to blanket the ground; a soft white shroud to cover the soft green grass.

"Honestly, sometimes I think he can be the perfect snob. He's still my friend though; he probably…he probably can't help it sometimes. He's visiting less and less and writing more and more, so I guess I can look forward to getting better written letters now. I think my uncle expects me to marry him when I turn eighteen. He's probably right. I mean, I don't mind. He can be a perfect gentleman too, Elsa, trust me. Did I tell you about that one time he stuffed my pillow full of chocolates? I think Kai almost had a fit when I picked up my pillow and all these chocolates came falling out. I thought it was sweet- pun intended; Kai wasn't impressed, as you can imagine." Anna stewed a while in dreamy silence.

"Oh yeah, I probably shouldn't be telling you this, and your rock will probably be executed for treason for hearing this, but…" Anna lowered her voice till it was a whisper. "I found this girl in a dungeon under the castle. Elsa, how strange is that? I don't think I was meant to find it; I don't know if anyone other than Kai and Hans knows about it- I sure hope not. I mean, the dungeon had the whole 'forbidden labyrinth' feel to it. But the girl, Elsa, the girl there is so…strange. I mean, all I do is talk to the door and sometimes she scraped her chains to loud enough to remind me that she's still awake. You know, I'd be fully prepared to label her as a mute if she hadn't been the first one to talk to me the first time we met…well, not met; it's weird. She asked me for bread and I've been feeding her cookies ever since. Do you think I'm doing the right thing? Keeping this a secret and all? Maybe if I tell uncle about her in the right tone of voice, he'll let me visit her officially? Or is it the duty of a princess to have adventures too? All those story books you used to read had princesses going off on adventures. Even our long lost cousin went on an adventure- I think she might just be the best lost and found story ever."

The fog was lying thick on the ground now. Anna lifted her hands off the ground to check that they were still there. After a moment, she continued:

"Elsa, the strangest part of it all was that…that girl reminds me so much of…so much of you. I don't know, I haven't seen you in years but every time I talk to her door I find myself thinking of you. Maybe it's because I've had practice with your rock? I think she enjoys listening to me ramble it must be so lonely for her in there. I think you two would have been good friends if you ever meet. Did you know she likes to sketch too? She actually gave me a sketch she made once; it's a doodle of one of the Arendelle castle towers. I gave her your sketch book in return- I hope you don't mind. You can haunt me if you do; actually, feel free to haunt the castle anytime. Just don't show up too late into the night, I might not recognize you and scream." Anna stopped, realizing that this line of thought probably wasn't the most wholesome thing to pursue in a graveyard.

"Anyway, there's that. I don't actually know what I'm accomplishing, visiting her and all. I'll probably have to bust her out one day; that would be a real adventure. But if I do that and get caught, she'd be hung…so maybe that isn't such a bright idea. But then again…I don't want to stop visiting her. It would be really sad to just leave her there, but also…also…it's actually kind of nice to have someone just listen to you, you know? Yeah…" Anna stopped. For a good while, she simply sat with her back to the stone; her breaths turning to wisps of white before her eyes. The mist rolled over the ground around her, like the ghost of snowstorms past. There was something she wanted to say; but at the same time something in her mind held her back. It was a lump in her throat, a hurdle in her mind. She decided to jump it and forget the landing.

"Elsa, I had the dream again. You know the one; the one about the day I lost you with mom and dad. I don't know why I still have that dream sometimes; it makes sleep perfectly horrid. Not saying that dreaming about you is horrid…but, if it means never dreaming about you again, then I'd rather not dream about it. No offense." Anna paused and looked at the rock. The rock hadn't taken offense.

"Hey Elsa, will you forgive me for saying this... but I've honestly forgotten what you look like? I can't picture your face in my brain anymore. I know there's a painting, but you know how paintings are, they don't feel real. It's not even in the main castle, so I have to make an extra-long trip to the archives if I want to see it. I avoid the archives now. Sometimes Elsa, I wish I could just forget. I want to forget, dammit."

Anna curled up and buried her face in her hands. The smell of the damp earth rose up to greet her. Around her, the fog had reached its zenith; the world was a dull white haze, without shape or form. Anna was silent now, not that she had run out of things to say- she never ran out of things to say; but her desire to talk to rocks was very much sated. Rising, she could feel the damp that had spread over her dress; she had just been sitting through fog. She had half a mind to call for Kai, intense though the fog was.

Slowly she exhaled. The world was white, an ephemeral snowy haze that billowed and broiled to the invisible breeze. It was deathly quiet under the shroud of the fog; Anna's breaths echoed into the all-consuming silence. Reaching out a hand, Anna found that she could no longer see the end of her arm. It was strange feeling, almost like the underworld had opened their gates to her- if only she could step forward and enter.

"Elsa…" Anna whispered. "Elsa, I miss you."

A gentle breeze picked up the fog and began to carry it away.

Closing her eyes, Anna felt like she could almost see her sister again. Something about the colour white; maybe it was because of Elsa's ludicrously white platinum blonde hair; maybe it was because Anna had always associated Elsa with building snowmen. Straining her ears, Anna felt she could almost hear her sister laughing through the snow. She could hear herself too: 'Come on Elsa, make another one with me! Let's make another one!'

"It doesn't have to be a snowman," whispered Anna; voice trailing out into the void.

Then suddenly the mist was gone, borne upon the arms of the mountain breeze to be dumped into the fjord. Anna found herself standing in front of the graves again, just three large rocks sunken into the hill. She squinted; a ray of sun had broken through the clouds to light up the gloom. The rocks sparkled as the sunlight caressed the wet granite surfaces. Slowly, the sunlight forced the clouds apart and the gaze of the late afternoon sun descended upon the royal family.

Anna bit her lip, ordering it not to tremble: princesses were meant to be women of composure. She could hear Kai and the others approaching up the hill. It was time to leave.

* * *

AN: edited the two interludes together.


	4. Time

_Author foreword:_ Hey readers, I hope you didn't mind the wait. To all those lovely folks who left reviews: thank you! However, I can't figure out why I can't reply to any of them through the email link...or am I not supposed to? I dunno, I probably have some setting or other turned to the wrong thing and I haven't found it yet.

In answer to RRS: Yes, I ascribe to the Tangled and Frozen join universe theory. However, I do think that linking Frozen with Tarzan is just too far. Also, with the whole ship thing- it's a hole over from a different version of the story I wrote ages ago. I didn't see any reason to change it, so it's still there. Maybe if I write a sequel to this story, you'll know.

Anyhow, enjoy the next chapter. As per usual agreement: please send reviews- tell me what you think about the story thus far? How can I make it better?

Peace out.

* * *

 _Chapter 3: Time.  
_

Two months until Anna's eighteenth birthday and already the town was abuzz with chatter. Eighteen! The magical age for a princess; it was now that they could finally be formally presented at the royal balls. They had 'come of age' so to speak; old enough to entertain suitors for their hand in marriage. This was expected to happen soon for Anna; her looks as of late had been of special focus, the gleam of her eyes were the topic of many a discussion. The number of freckles on her cheeks were noted; the way she wore her hair with each passing day was examined; and the way she dressed was bread and butter for many a gossip. All in all, the people reached the general consensus that princess Anna was undoubtedly the prettiest of girls and that it would take a special type of gentleman to sweep her off her feet.

Fortunately for the townsfolk, such a man had already appeared. Prince Hans of the Southern Isles had the misfortune of being the only topic more hotly discussed than Anna herself. When asked, few were those who had not seen the prince ride majestically through the town; and even fewer who had not already formed a favorable opinion. In this, Hans was blessed, for he had the favor of many. His countenance was praised all round- "A strong man, with a strong heart" said Everhart, the politics tutor. This feeling was shared by the majority of maids and butlers, with Eisenhower the mathematician presenting the coolest expression: "He certainly has charm." A full two months before the grand royal ball, the people of Arendelle had already married Anna and Hans in their hearts. It was a match made in heaven, intended by destiny, set from birth. They were meant for each other and not a soul would dare deny it.

Amund heard all this and was glad. Long had he toiled for such a union- to unite two countries divided by years of conflict and rivers of blood were no mean feat. For a while, he fancied himself a great man: he would go down into the family records as Amund the Peaceful. But his humble soul would not allow him to dwell on such arrogance- let the scribes write what they want. Till Anna and Hans exchanged rings before the altar, nothing was set in stone. Much could happen in two months to disrupt his perfect plan for peace.

"Your Majesty, this should be a time of happiness. Anna is on the best of terms with Prince Hans, there is no chance of her refusing his hand at the ball."

"That is not my worry."

Amund stirred on his throne, stroking his beard with a thoughtful hand.

"I fear not for Anna, nor Hans. I am strained with anticipation- that is all. This is my life's work, Kai. I cannot help but feel fretful as it approaches consummation."

Thus saying, Amund fulfilled his deepest fears by falling deathly ill a few days later.

* * *

 _She was eight again. Her tiny hands were clasped together as the leather seat she sat on bumped and jerked all over the place. Anna blinked, feeling the situation in all its strangeness. Her mother was beside her, one arm tucked reassuringly around her waist. Her father sat opposite, eyes shining green as he looked at her; and there beside him was Elsa._

 _They were in a carriage, bumping along some sort of dirt track into the mountains. It was probably to their summer house- Anna remembered with a hint of nostalgia. A little cottage they had in a secluded bay where the sun shone gold, the sky glowed blue and everything was peaceful and fun._

 _Her mother and father were talking, lips moving- but she couldn't hear a word they said. All she heard was the 'thump, thump, thump' of her own little heart. Not that she was looking at them anyway. Anna found her vision singularly directed at Elsa. She found herself realising just how white her sister's hair was- white as snow, and it sparkled in the sunlight. At this moment, Elsa stopped fiddling with the gloves on her hands and looked up. Anna caught her breath- she had completely forgotten what her sister looked like._

 _Suddenly, Anna realised where all this was going. She'd had this dream before, when she was little. She'd had this dream and had woken up wishing she would never fall asleep ever again._

 _She tried to twist herself out of her mother's arm, do something- anything- that might change the dream...only to find herself rooted to the spot. It was like watching herself in a play; the events moving inexorably onwards._

 _Anna fought desperately. Maybe she could wake up and go back to sleep, this time with a different dream. But it was all in vain._

 _There was a sudden jolt in the carriage, and it sent her sprawling into her mother's arms. Father looked out of his carriage window, only to duck backwards as a red feathered arrow came whistling through the glass, shattering it into a million sharp fragments. The arrow embedded itself into the wooden floor, inches away from Elsa's feet._

" _Look out!" someone screamed- probably her mother. And then the world went to hell in a handbasket. Everything rolled together in a roiling confusion of screaming, shouting, crashing and broken windows. "Bandits!" Someone said. In the midst of all the confusion, Anna suddenly found herself lying face down on the muddy earth._

" _Come on, Anna, get up!" It was Elsa. Anna looked up at her sister standing over her. There was blood streaming down the left side of Elsa's face, and Anna found herself transfixed by the sight of it. The world turned red, and faintly, she registered four towering figures approaching._

" _Anna, get up!"_

 _But Anna was still staring at the four towering figures. Something in their hands gleamed in the sunlight- long white shapes- they were carrying swords, her mind told her. She found herself climbing to her feet, acting purely on instinct. She had scraped her knee and it was beginning to bleed; somewhere in her eight-year old mind, a small voice told her that this wasn't the time to cry over a scraped knee._

" _Run, Anna!"_

 _She turned and saw Elsa, back towards her, squaring off with the sword wielding giants. Then terror took her and she bolted for the trees. The ground passed under her feet in a blur. A thought lingered in her mind, "What about Elsa?" But it was too late for that, too late for thinking of anything except running. She stumbled over a tree root and scraped her other knee; no matter, she kept on running. She ran until her legs crumbled to the ground, sheer exhaustion keeping her down. It was dark, oh so dark; and the pine trees hemmed her in on all sides. She felt cold._

 _So cold._

 _And what about Elsa?_

 _It was snowing._

 _She'd die._

 _Why was it snowing?_

 _But she's dead already._

Anna almost leapt out of her bed. Sitting up, the princess spat some of her hair out of her mouth. She realised she was trembling; a cold sweat had settled over her entire body. For a few minutes all she could do was breathe - long quivering breaths that caused her chest to heave. Her knuckles were white, her fingers clenched around her bedsheets till the fabric was naught but a crumbled mess. Slowly, she ran a shaking hand through her matted hair. She was sweating profusely- like she had just run half a mile through the pine woods themselves. She didn't feel rested at all. After a few recuperating breaths, she remembered her dream. It was the nightmare that plagued her for so many years after that hideous day; the day she became the only living member of her family. Anna cringed and flopped back down into her bed. She still remembered hiding there in the pine forests. She must have been there for days, just cowering under the branches; praying that the tall bad men wouldn't find her.

How had she survived again? Anna buried her face into her pillow. As a seventeen year old, her survival instincts weren't great; as an eight year old, they were even worse. She still had a scar running down the side of her arm from that time- she had tumbled down something or other and cut herself against some wickedly sharp rocks.

The first rays of the morning sun were creeping in through her bedroom curtains. Not that the morning had ever stopped her from going straight back to sleep, but Anna felt no such inclination today.

There came a sharp knock on her door.

"Princess Anna?" Kai's voice came through the wooden door.

"Yes?"

"Sorry to wake you ma'am-"

"No, no, it's fine." Anna pushed off her bed and slipped her feet into her slippers. "I've been up for hours."

She opened the door, only to find herself looking at a rather distraught butler. She raised an eyebrow.

"Kai?"

The butler wrung his hands and sighed.

"Princess Anna, we need to talk."

* * *

-Hours earlier-

As King Amund languished in his bed, head burning with a dizzying pain, he began to taste the first sips of panic. It had been several days since he had been confined to his bed; and though all the best apothecaries and healers had been summoned, his condition refused to improve. What had started out as a mere sore throat had quickly evolved into a burning fever and the pinnacle of medicine could do nothing about it.

Might he die here, his purposes two months away from becoming reality? He gave a sharp cough and propped himself up upon his pillows. As per standard practice, the doctors forbade anyone from entering his room, fearing his ailment to be of the contagious sort. The blank walls of the infirmary stared back at him. The doctors had offered to treat him in the royal bedroom; but he had declined. There was something unsettling about the fact that his wall was covered with the faces of deceased kings- his late brother being the one closest to the bed. Of course he too had a portrait, but the council had denied him the complete rights of royalty- declaring him instead a Steward-king, one who would rule till the Princess Anna came of age and accepted a hand in marriage. His portrait hung on the wall outside, ever a reminder of how he came by the throne.

The king massaged his temples and involuntarily sank deeper into the pillows. Glancing at the clock standing on the table next to all the pills and herbs he had been prescribed, Amund noted that his next check-up would be in half an hour. Turning over and taking from the table a quill pen and a small bound notebook, Amund fought down a wave of dizziness as he then reached for the hand bell.

One ring brought immediately to his presence the two guards that watched his door day and night. The two came in awkwardly, knowing that the doctors had specifically ordered quarantine. But it was the King's summons, and they could not disobey. They stood, hushed, a few paces from the King's bedside. One of them stepped forward and spoke:

"You Majesty?"

Amund would have spoken, had not a coughing fit seized him at that very moment. Recovering slowly, the ailing king scribbled on a random page; then, signing his name on the bottom, he tore the page from the book and handed it to the guard.

"See…"

His voice emerged from his mouth in a sort of cracked whisper. Amund frowned and tried again.

"Give this to the captain of the royal guards. See to it that my will is done."

The guards bowed and retreated from the room, leaving Amund alone with his thoughts and his burning fever. Yet, despite his illness and the severity of his situation, the king cracked a slight smile.

The guards looked at each other while they strode briskly down the hallway.

"Well?" said the older of the two guards, the corners of his eyes wrinkling with curiosity at his younger companion. The other guard, a new recruit, took up the folded note and frowned at it.

"Are we meant to…?"

The older guard gave him a look that conveyed all the essence of the expression 'are you for real?' The younger guard took the hint and quickly unfolded the note. The message it contained was very simple- three words.

'Prepare the ship for boarding.'

And below it was scribbled- as if in afterthought- 'ensure the girl is on board'.

The younger guard raised an eyebrow while his senior stroked his close-cropped beard thoughtfully. The younger guard folded the note again and shrugged. As the younger guard pocketed the note, his senior coughed and spoke, in a measured tone.

"Simon, maybe I should be the one to deliver the message."

"Why?"

Simon stared at his senior, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. The older man shrugged back and said nonchalantly:

"Because…"

Suddenly, something smashed into the back of Simon's head. With a ringing 'gong' the young guard was sent sprawling to the ground. He lay there unmoving; unconscious. The older guard reached down and plucked the note from his junior's pocket.

"Because you'd be unconscious, my friend."

Pocketing the note, the old guard looked down at his fallen comrade and sighed. Lifting the boy, he stowed him quietly away in a storage room. On his way out the old guard gave one last look at the note, his features darkening.

"Long live the Queen."

* * *

Kai stood awkwardly at Anna's door. The princess looked like she'd had better nights; in fact, with the particularly haunted look on her face, Kai would say that the princess had been to hell and back. He could tell Anna was still on edge, having not removed herself from her doorway. To appease her, Kai stepped back and revealed the cart behind him.

"I brought breakfast."

Anna visibly relaxed.

Kai entered the room cautiously. Anna had never kicked Kai out of her room and he knew she wouldn't start now. She was simply too kind a soul; and considering everything that had happened to her, it was a miracle. Perhaps if she knew the truth of things, she would have been different. Kai shut his eyes and pushed back such despairing thoughts. Nevertheless, he knew the truth was going to hurt. It was going to hurt like nothing else. The truth he was going to tell her landed neatly in the 'world shattering' category. He fought down the tension rising in his throat and placed Anna's breakfast down on the table.

It was eggs benedict and a glass of milk- a foreign dish, but one Anna had grown ridiculously fond of. Call it bribery.

"Kai?" asked Anna.

Snapped out of his thoughts by the princess, Kai realised he had sunk into a deep scowl. He immediately reshaped his countenance, and turned with a carefully thoughtful look upon the princess.

"Sorry ma'am, I was lost in thought."

"Those must be some scary thoughts Kai," said Anna with a quick smile.

Kai watched as the princess picked up her milk and took a sip.

"Well, ma'am, you aren't entirely wrong."

"You came to talk with me?"

"Yes-"

"You, uh, don't mind if I…" Anna gestured to her breakfast. It was growing colder by the minute and he knew she was itching to dig in. Kai couldn't help but smile. Before he could respond, Anna had already taken his silence as approval and bitten into the muffin. Kai coughed and said with some hesitation.

"I must warn you ma'am that what I'm about to tell you might affect your appetite."

Anna stared at him, gulped down the food and said in a cautious tone:

"This isn't a birds and bees talk is it?"

Kai was rendered speechless, having been utterly blindsided by the direction the conversation had taken. Anna continued.

"Well, it's just that, Klara went and sat me down for something similar on Tuesday night. She thought it was important, what with me expecting to marry Hans and everything." Anna chuckled at the memory. "Bless the old dear, she was so worried."

Kai stared at Anna, words dying in his throat.

"So Kai, if it's that kind of talk, I'm sorry, your wife beat you to the punch. And she went into such detail, I, uh…" Anna was grinning and blushing at the same time.

It took Kai a good minute to recuperate and gather himself. For a moment, he had forgotten why he had come in the first place. The stiffness of the piece of paper in his pocket refreshed his memory. Then his will was steeled: his purpose was clear; and if the old guard had made anything clear, it was that time was of the essence. Kai coughed uncomfortably and managed an answer:

"Uh, no, ma'am. I trust my wife has told you enough of _that_ , that no one will ever have to lecture you again."

Anna smirked as she bit down on another piece of muffin.

"Thank goodness." She said.

Kai decided that it was time he got to the subject at hand. It was nerve wracking: anticipating the total destruction of the cheerful atmosphere that Anna seemed to carry around with her. He pressed on, knowing that once the words had left his mouth, the sky might as well fall down on them.

"Actually, ma'am, and I mean this with no offense, I've come here to talk to you about your sister."

Kai watched Anna freeze, mid-chew. He watched as she hurriedly downed her mouthful with the last of the milk and then turn to him with the most surprised stare he had ever seen her give. After a short silence, Anna managed:

"My sister?"

Kai was at a loss for words. As he fumbled for a way to ease Anna into the situation, the princess began to frown.

"Kai," Anna said in a semi-whisper. "Elsa's dead. We buried her with Mom, Dad and Aunty Armas. That was the worst day of my life; I still have nightmares about it after all this time. You know, that was the first time I saw Uncle cry...so, my sister's dead, Kai. She's dead."

Anna stared into what was left of her eggs benedict, her face drawn into a sorrowful frown. Kai saw all this, looked down at his hands and managed to say in a whisper:

"Ma'am, are you sure?"

The effect the whisper had on Anna was profound. Kai watched as Anna's eyes narrowed in confusion, widened in shock and then narrowed again- in anger. Her face had become a battlefield- all her emotions all at war. She managed to say, in a sort of gasping choke:

"what?"

Ann brought her hands up to her face, brushing away some of her unruly hair and rubbing her eyes.

"Kai, what, I, just said, my sister-" She was inarticulate. Anna took a deep breath, gripped her knees with both hands and said: "Kai. She's gone. Forever. I mean, people tell me that she lives on in my memories but we both know that's wishful thinking. Well, it's not that I don't wishfully think sometimes- you've caught me more than once talking to her- I mean her gravestone in the royal cemetery. And it helps sometimes, just to imagine that she's actually there and listening; up there somewhere. But…"

Anna drew a deep sigh.

"She's gone. I thought I'd gotten over that. Guess I haven't. I barely remember what she looks like so I, well."

Kai remained silent. He could see Anna frown as she repeated the sentence "she's dead" to herself. Suddenly, Anna stopped and looked up; totally bewildered.

"What do you mean, 'are you sure?' Elsa's dead...right?"

Kai watched as Anna struggled to grasp the implications of what she had just heard. It was painful, seeing the girl reach for hope, then instinctively withdraw. Kai realised that right now, he may as well take his chances.

"Ma'am," said Kai. "Your sister is alive. If you're willing to believe me, I will explain everything. Unfortunately we haven't much time..."


	5. Truth

_Chapter 4: Truth._

Anna was running. She couldn't help it, but she was running through the castle. Despite Kai's repeated pleas for utmost secrecy, Anna found it impossible to keep a straight face. She felt she might start crying out of sheer confusion.

…

" _What?" Anna was beside herself._

" _No, no...that's..." Anna put her hands over her face, her mind fumbling for a grasp on reality. She couldn't take it, couldn't understand it. Her sister alive? This had to be a dream; or if not, some sort of twisted joke. But Kai wasn't one to attempt humor, much less crack a joke on this topic._

" _No, no, this must be part of my bad dream." Anna mumbled. She looked at her hands, red with nervous energy, and slapped herself on the face. Twice, for good measure. It wasn't a dream. She could see Kai staring sadly at her; why did he have to have that expression? It meant that he was serious. But the topic was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. Anna didn't know what to do; it was just so out of the blue. She felt conflicted, she felt confused._

 _Funny how fast confusion could turn into anger._

 _Anna glared at Kai._

" _Sir, this had better not be a joke. Because if I find out that this is some sort of twisted attempt at humor to lighten the mood, or whatever; I will have you thrown into prison."_

 _The butler met her gaze without flinching._

" _Ma'am, I cannot be more serious."_

 _For a few more seconds, Anna continued to glare at Kai. Inside her, the emotional storm howled. She tried to grasp for reason; deduce by some miracle Kai's true objective. She gave up when she realised she couldn't even think straight. With a deep sigh, Anna dropped her glare._

" _Ok. I'll take your word. Tell me, how can my sister still be alive, ten years after we had her funeral. And how is it, assuming she really is alive, that I am, even now, completely in the dark?"_

…

Anna nearly lost her satchel down the stairs. She slung her trusty satchel over her shoulder with a jingle of coins. In it was enough money to buy her and one other a ship ticket to Corona; and a handwritten note from Kai. Apparently, there was someone there waiting for them- Eugene or something. Kai had written it all down so she hadn't really bothered remembering the details.

Skidding to a halt, Anna slipped into a side room to avoid a pair of guards strolling down the hallway. They weren't patrolling so much as coming off duty; however, even the most uninterested person would raise an eyebrow seeing Anna, decked out in her traveling outfit running through the castle. Kai had warned her that she must be absolutely discreet. No one could know, in case information regarding her expedition fell into the wrong hands. Forcing herself to take slow breaths, Anna waited till the guards were out of sight before continuing down the corridor.

…

 _Kai pursed his lips, then began after a moment of hesitation._

" _You must remember that you were lost in the woods for almost two months before you were found; and even then you were found under very unusual circumstances."_

 _Anna simply nodded; it was a strange thing: while she distinctly remembered being only lost for a few days, all official accounts documented that she was found a full forty days after the tragedy had occurred. Kai concluded from the nod that the princess had simply decided to roll with it. Whether or not this was a good thing remained to be seen. He continued regardless._

" _It is because of the circumstances of your escape that you never knew: Elsa survived the attack."_

 _Anna's eyes grew wide._

" _She did what? Wait...if she did, then-"_

" _I will explain," said Kai._ " _You should know that your uncle came to us shortly after the accident. It was a few days after his arrival that something happened- the details aren't known completely, not even to me. The accounts differ, but it is thought that Elsa attacked your aunt."_

" _Yeah, that sure sounds like Elsa," said Anna, dripping with sarcasm.  
_

 _Kai raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the princess, but continued nonetheless._

" _Your guess is as good as mine as to what really happened. Nevertheless,_ _your aunt died mere days after arriving in Arendelle. After her death, Elsa seemed to simply vanish from the face of the earth. Your uncle was devastated upon his wife's death."_

 _Anna grimaced._

" _Almost following, not really following." She said. "So my aunt dies and Elsa disappears?"_

" _Yes," Kai followed. "So imagine my surprise when a few days later, your uncle announced to the council that Elsa had contracted a rare disease and passed the previous night. The doctors gave their full support to this claim, but they never brought out a body..."_

 _Kai sighed._

"...a _nd a few days after that, the king begins to build a new dungeon under the castle. The dungeon was peculiar in that it required an abnormal amount of cast iron."_

...

As Anna stared down the succession of turquoise roof tops sloping towards the sea, she realised the hardest part of her escape was over. Now it was the business of sliding down the right rooftops and running along the ridges without either falling to her doom or being caught by someone looking out the windows. A series of soft clatters later, Anna jumped off the roof ledge and landed softly in the flower gardens.

So far so good.

…

 _Anna looked at Kai confused. It was starting to become a rather normal thing- Anna as confused as can be, while Kai did the best he could to patch the pieces together for her. But this time her brain was working hard, harder than ever. Namely- how did all of this have anything to do with her sister?_

 _So her sister attacked her aunt for some reason or another (might have, she did something to her aunt was what the accounts agreed upon), and her aunt dies a short while later. Either Elsa's attack was incredibly savage or her aunt was made of pudding. Anna really didn't see the point of it- why did Elsa 'attack' her aunt anyway? It didn't fit her character; Elsa was always the mild, calm, controlled older sister. Anna shrugged and moved on to the next detail._

 _This was more interesting- in other words: confusing. After her aunt's death, Elsa goes missing for several days. Her absence is then resolved by her death at hands of a rare disease. Anna really didn't see anything wrong with this; the doctors could easily have put her in quarantine where she then died in their care. But Anna sensed that Kai wasn't buying this story: his tone, his words, told her that he thought something was off with this chapter of the tale._

" _Kai, what do you mean?"_

" _Well, ma'am, doesn't it seem suspicious to you when the royal princess falls ill and everyone is told about her death after it's happened?"_

" _I guess if you put it that way. But if the illness was fast-"_

" _Ma'am, your sister was missing for almost a week before your uncle brought us the news."_

" _Oh."_

 _"Not to mention, the doctors that had reported on the death of the princess all passed away themselves; all under very mysterious circumstances."_

 _Anna began to see Kai's side of things. Despite her doubts and the inkling that the butler was over-thinking the details, she had to admit that with all the talk of smoke and mirrors, he might just have a point._

…

Anna weaved her way through the flowers, making sure she kept well clear of the second storey windows. After escaping so many afternoon lessons, she was a master at it. She doubted anyone saw her duck under the sunflowers and push her way past the hedge that grew around the garden- in fact, there was already a hole there, the result of countless garden breakouts. Beyond the hedge was the stone wall; at most points of the castle, the wall joined the main castle to form a united front against the sea. Here, it segregated the flower gardens from the dense pine forests that covered the mountain slopes.

Anna knew that if she were to go straight up, she would find herself standing by a waterfall, gazing down on the Arendelle castle along with a breath-taking view. But she wasn't going nature-walking today, so she made a sharp right and headed for the ravine.

…

" _So this is all connected? Elsa, Uncle, the prison, I…"_

 _Kai simply waited for Anna to connect the dots._

…

Anna hefted herself over the wall, her traveling cloak receiving its first dirt stain from scraping against the loose lichen that clung to the stones. Landing with a thud on the other side, Anna pressed deeper into the pine forest. She had been this way many times before, though mostly in the evenings. Anna broke into a run.

…

 _Anna looked at Kai, her breath beginning to quicken. She had understood Kai's hints and nudges...but the answer they pointed to; was just too bizarre; unreal. Why did Uncle suddenly begin construction of a secret dungeon under the castle? Why did this coincide with Elsa being proclaimed deceased? Dungeons were made for people._

 _There was someone in the dungeon. Anna had met her._

 _A girl._

 _Three years older._

 _Soft spoken._

 _Calm._

" _It can't be. No. But Kai, it- no…"_

 _Anna's voice took on a note of desperation._

" _Kai, it can't be. It can't."_

 _Kai waited, while Anna squirmed in her chair, twisting her napkin into shapes as inarticulate as her speech. He waited till her breathing returned from the deep shuddering gasps of shock. Then, very softly, he dropped the bombshell._

" _Princess Anna."_

 _The princess looked up at him, silent; eyes moist at the sides._

" _The girl you found in the iron prison is your sister. She's been in there, by direct order of your uncle, for the last ten years."_

...

Anna jumped from tree root to tree root, hurtling down the side of the ravine with barely a care. Odd tears formed at the sides of her eyes- she wiped them away. Until she clicked open that lock, until she opened the door and looked her sister in the face, she promised herself she would not cry.

…

 _It had taken Anna a good five minutes to recover; during which she simply sat in her chair like a dead thing. She held onto the table for dear life; feeling that if she loosened her grip on the breakfast table, she'd be sucked into a yawning whirlpool of insanity. When Anna had finally gathered her wits enough to speak, she looked at Kai and asked:_

" _Why now? Why not before? Why- if she's my sister- why on earth did you wait ten years before you told me anything? Kai, she's been locked up in a cage, all alone, starved-" Anna found it impossible to continue._

 _Luckily, Kai had a response._

" _Ma'am, we were always going to tell you, but not while your uncle was in power. It was your uncle that put her there, Princess Anna, and he had taken certain measures to ensure she stayed imprisoned. We could not act against him without terrible repercussions."_

 _Anna frowned: "But my uncle is still in power, what's changed?"_

" _He's ill, very ill," said Kai, producing from his pocket the piece of paper Amund had entrusted to his guards. "He's afraid that he might die before Elsa does- he holds her accountable for your Aunt's death. Again, why he does is as much a mystery to you as it is to me."_

 _Kai handed the piece of paper to Anna._

" _He ordered her departure this morning; I know not where. Your uncle traveled the world before he came back to Arendelle- doubtless he has friends in faraway lands who are willing to help him. He's trying to put her out of our reach_ _ _forever_. We had no choice; we've been forced to show our hand."_

 _"We?" Asked Anna._

 _Kai glanced nervously behind him, as if checking the very air for eavesdroppers._

 _"Yes, princess: 'we'. Despite your uncle's best attempts, he could not cover all his tracks. All you need to know for now, princess Anna, is that there is a portion of Arendelle waiting for the return of their queen."_

 _Anna's frown deepened as she read the order. She recognized the scrawling signature on the bottom of the page. That her uncle would do such a thing! A moment ago impossible for her to fathom; yet now that she held the evidence in her hands, she had no choice but to believe. After reading it for the sixth time, Anna decided to pocket the piece of paper. Kai made no objections._

" _So," said Anna after a long pause._

" _What do I do?"_

...

Anna continued her descent at breakneck speeds, hopping and leaping over the tangled mass of tree roots that covered the ground. She was almost there now, she could see the grass at the bottom of the valley, could hear the river running through the pebbles. Just a few more steps.

Suddenly, Anna's foot was caught in a particularly malicious tree root. She lurched forward, flailing. Her satchel went sailing off her shoulder as her body continued a general descent down the slope- no doubt, she was going to get a painful face-full of dirt in a second or so. Anna braced herself.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from between two tree trunks in front of her. Anna barely had time to scream a warning before she bowled full speed into him, the impact knocking them both to the ground. Luckily for Anna (unluckily for the poor fellow), she landed on his chest and he took the brunt of the fall. Too dazed to speak, Anna blinked and hurriedly tried to extract herself from the man's arm. This was, of course, until he spoke; Anna's eyes widened when a very familiar voice came from the man she was lying on. He spoke, and not without a slight tinge of mirth.

"Glad I caught you." Said Hans, still slightly winded.

Anna propped herself up and found herself looking her childhood friend in the eye. Caught between bewilderment and surprise, all she could do was smile and say:

"Hans!"


	6. The Girl with the Iron Gloves

_Chapter 5: The Girl with the Iron Gloves._

 _A dream is a wish your heart makes,_

 _When you're feeling small._

 _Alone in the night you whisper,_

 _Thinking no one can hear you at all._

 _You wake with the morning sunlight,_

 _To find fortune smiling on you._

 _For all you know, tomorrow,_

 _The dream that you wish will come true._

* * *

By the time the morning sun came streaming through the tiny window embedded in the wall, the prisoner was already awake. She was sweating from her usual routine of morning stretches, and now that the sun had risen, she was content to simply sit on her bed. The morning rays peeped through the prison window to be reflected off the metallic walls, giving the entire room a faint golden glow. The prisoner liked this time of the day. The freshness of the morning combined with the trick of the light made the confinement of the cell a bit more wholesome, if only for a few minutes.

Unfortunately those minutes spent themselves quickly.

She rose from her bed, not needing to make it as she had no blanket. The bed itself stood in stark contrast to the rest of the room; while the cell itself was spartan in every sense of the word, the bed was heather with a wooden frame; the frame was large, beautifully made and richly decorated. Beside the bed hung a simple body mirror, its shabby design juxtaposing the bed's royal origin.

The prisoner stood in front of the mirror. Taking a worn comb from a fold of her simple black dress she began to comb her mop of snow white hair into something more acceptable than a bed head. As she fussed over some tangled knots she stared into her reflection; the girl that stared back was pale- perhaps too pale; thin, with her black dress almost slipping off her shoulders; but otherwise quite normal, perhaps even pretty. But two cumbersome objects replaced her hands: two great iron gloves- intricately made and securely welded shut around the wrist. It made combing her hair all the more difficult; but she managed- she had for the past ten years.

Still staring into the mirror, the girl said to her reflection.

"My name is Elsa. My mother was Queen Idunn and my Father King Agnarr of Arendelle. I was sentenced to life in solitary confinement for the murder of my Aunt at the age of eleven years and four months. I am now nineteen. No, twenty...no…twenty one."

Elsa had stopped combing her hair some time ago. She stood in front of the mirror, staring at herself. By all rights she was a grown woman- she had the body, the look, the speech of a grown woman. But she didn't feel like it. Somewhere just under the surface, was an eleven year old girl who never really got to grow up. Not normally anyway.

Elsa still remembered the day she was led to the cell- the cell where she was to spend the rest of her waking life. She remembered looking at the giant iron door and seeing it close behind her. She remembered hearing the locks click into place. She remembered just sitting in the lone pool of sunlight in the middle of the room, too numb, too scared to even move. Perhaps it was after the second day that she had started crying- her memory grew foggy there- the guards had told her to shut up or go hungry. She stopped when they kept true to their word.

Sinking back onto her bed, Elsa brushed aside a few books to make some room. They were the reason she had never felt truly alone- her books had always kept her company. Her Uncle had let her have as much as she wanted when it came to literature, and as a result, the floor was covered with it. She had given up on keeping a tidy collection after book number one hundred and twenty seven. Now they were simply divided into 'read' and 'unread'. Elsa brushed those on her bed away, stacking them carefully on the ground. Flopping down on her mattress, she decided that she'd take another nap before continuing with her daily readings. Her stomach growled- the guards had been slacking again. Maybe Anna would visit today with more cookies. It was a hopeful thought, but a wish nonetheless. Elsa tried not to keep her hopes up.

* * *

"Hans!"

Anna got up shakily, accidentally kneeing Hans in the stomach on the way up.

"Hans...What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you."

Hans looked up at her and managed half of his usual smirk. All in all, he seemed to be happy to see her. But his inquiry put Anna in a most uncomfortable position.

"I, uh...I'm taking a stroll around the castle."

Hans raised an eyebrow. Anna was lying through her teeth and they both knew it.

"With your traveling cloak and satchel? You look like you're running away."

Hans' probe hit close to the truth causing Anna's embarrassment to crimson over her face. When she opened her mouth to negate the damage, the princess found to her horror that the capabilities of speech had deserted her, leaving her gaping awkwardly at Hans. The prince must have caught on for he followed up his query without waiting for Anna's response.

"You aren't running away, are you?"

"No, yes, wait, what I mean is-"Anna stammered, desperate to say at least something in riposte. "Well, yes and no. I don't know- maybe? It's a lot more complicated- it's not what it looks like. But then-"

Anna shook her head, realizing she was getting nowhere. So she employed tactic two: "Whatever, you still haven't answered my question, Mr Westergard. What are you doing here in the first place?"

Hans' critical eyebrow rose higher on his forehead. Anna's tactics were few and far between, meaning she reused them till they were bust. For her to start...Hans sighed internally and decided to humor her.

"Well, Miss Arendelle. I was trying to sneak into the royal palace without being seen."

Now it was Anna's turn to look perplexed.

"What?"

Hans shrugged.

"How else do you think I smuggled all those boxes of chocolate into the castle for your seventeenth birthday without you smelling them on me from a mile away?"

Anna stared at Hans, looking him in the eye - trying to catch even the slightest glint of falsehood in their shining depths. She saw nothing, managing only to reiterate her hunch that Hans was indeed a dashing young man. Anna's shoulders sagged in defeat: Hans had given the perfect answer (she had always wondered how on earth he had set up the chocolate hunt for her last year. He had appeared and announced after dinner that he had something prepared for her. After that, it was the business of finding large stashes of chocolate hidden in places she was sure had never held chocolate before- her pillow for example). While Anna was distracted, Hans went in for the killing blow.

"Your turn, Miss Arendelle."

A hundred thousand things went through Anna's mind, or none, it didn't matter. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind and hoped that it was a lesser evil compared to another incoherent ramble.

"I'm on my way to find my sister."

If Hans had staved off his puzzlement before, he could do so no longer. Confusion mastered him, contorting his face into a picture of disbelief. For a moment, he could not speak; and when he could, he only managed:

"Your sister?"

"My sister." stated Anna, having nothing better to say.

"But… you told me she died when you two were still kids."

"Apparently not."

"Anna…" said Hans, becoming exasperated at her flat replies.

Anna sighed. In such cases, either the whole story was told or she kept her silence. And Hans would not take silence well- there was no real choice in the matter. The princess steeled herself and collected her thoughts.

"It's a long story."

Hans gave her a reassuring smile.

"Think you can tell me about it on the way there?"

* * *

The thing about long stone tunnels is that sound carries. One may stand at the entrance and hear what is said on the other end. Footsteps came, fast footfalls clattering over the cobblestones, traveling fast and loud. Elsa found herself starting from her nap; she slept lightly, having never really exerted herself enough to require real restfulness. She lay there silently, listening to the soft 'thump', 'thump', 'thump' of boots from the other side of the door. Her first conclusion was that the guards were finally here with her routine bread and water. However, she retracted that judgement hastily upon distinguishing two separate pairs of footfalls: a light pitter-patter intermixed with a steady tread of walking boots.

Anna?

Who was with her? Elsa sat up and stared at the door, not knowing what to expect. She heard the girl reach the door and stop, her companion joining her a few moments later. Elsa realised she was holding her breath. Relaxing slightly, she swung herself so that she sat on the edge of the bed. Her eyes were trained on the door expectantly.

Food would be nice.

The knock startled her. It really was Anna- no one else tapped the special little rhythm on the big iron door. Unfortunately Elsa was not given time to ponder the implications of Anna's visiting time, for the princess called out from the other side of the door, her voice ringing clear through the thick cast iron.

"Elsa?"

Elsa's heart stopped.

Or at least, she thought it had. She pressed a gloved hand to her chest just to be sure it was still going. Was she dreaming? Did her ears deceive her? Improbable; the cry came a second time- more urgent and more desperate.

"Elsa? It's...is it...it is, you, right?"

* * *

Anna frowned as a minute passed without a response. She thumped her knuckles against the door a third time.

"The silent treatment isn't going to work this time. Look, I know you said your name is Elizabeth but I'm really not feeling convinced."

Still the silence continued. Anna was becoming more frustrated than anxious about this mysterious prisoner with every passing second. If the girl wasn't, then say it. if she was, why the silence? Anna could not understand. Beside her, Hans set his jaw and placed a hand on Anna's shoulder.

"Anna", he said in a quiet whisper. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

Anna recoiled from him.

"Kai wouldn't lie to me. Not about something like this; he wouldn't dare."

Hans merely reflected Anna's frown, turning back to regard the iron door with distaste. Beside him, Anna began to rummage through her satchel, digging for something at the very bottom.

"You know what?" the princess said - more to herself than anyone else. "I'm just going to bust her out and figure everything out from there."

Anna produced from her bag a metal key. Dark grey in colour, it was the size of a small dagger; the handle was wrapped in well carved wood while the key itself was extraordinarily intricate in design. This was the very best the English had in terms of metal locks- beyond the power of Arendelle's blacksmiths to duplicate. There was only ever meant to be one of these keys, and Kai had given it to Anna. How the butler came across such a precious item, Anna did not know; though she suspected that breaking into the King's private quarters and ransacking the drawers had been part of the plan.

Hans turned, just in time to see Anna size up the lock, key in hand. A flash of surprise sprung across his face and he instinctively reached out.

"No, Anna, wait-"

But it was too late. Anna plugged the key into the lock and turned the handle. There was a great creaking, and the two could hear the various parts of the door come to life as the bolts and locks clicked open. Anna breathed a deep sigh and stepped back as the door slowly swung open on its own accord.

* * *

To say that Elsa panicked upon hearing her own name from the lips of her sister would have been an understatement. A cold sweat had broken out all over her, and as she reached to brush a loose hair from her face, she realised she was shaking. What could she do? Deny the claim and hope to heaven that Anna would leave her be? But what would that accomplish? If she were to answer the call, what then? Anna obviously knew something- someone must have told her: Amund? Impossible; Kai? One of the guards?

Elsa settled on Kai. The butler had visited - just once in the dead of night- to tell her that one day she would be free. He had sworn on his life he would make it happen. She couldn't remember her response; neither could she remember the details. It had been so long - five years perhaps? Elsa didn't know. She hadn't cared. Slowly, her emotions tore her apart; she stood on the precipice of indecision. Should she? Should she not? Her silence was evidently affecting Anna - the hot-blooded princess was pounding on the doors with abandon. Elsa bit her lip as Anna yelled into the door. She stayed silent, scared that if she should open her mouth, her words would run away from her before her mind could rein it all in. She didn't want Anna to know- to know why she was in the prison; to know why she'd never tried to leave.

She really didn't feel like seeing Anna. She couldn't help it; it was just as well that she couldn't see her hands. Some part of her wanted to stay in the little cell forever- serve penance for her crime; and whenever she began to persuade herself otherwise, she'd remember the day she lost control and turned her Aunt to ice. Elsa shivered despite not feeling cold. Wrapping her arms around herself, she sat on her bed in stoic silence. She'd weather this storm with her usual stony silence; and hopefully, things would go back to the way they used to be. Would this cause Anna to stop visiting her? Elsa hoped it wouldn't. Having Anna to talk to at the end of the day did wonders for her. She'd read somewhere that chronic isolation often led to insanity. Elsa wondered how long it would be till she herself went mad with loneliness - she was pretty sure she'd suffered hallucinations at least once. That time she'd seen Mom and Dad, just standing there by the window.

Waiting for her.

...

Something in the wall clicked, pulling Elsa out from her rabbit hole. A series of clicks and clanks intruded upon her ears and Elsa saw to her disbelief that it was all coming from the door. Her hands froze to her knees as she realised what was happening- the door was being unlocked. How was that possible? Was this why there was a second person with Anna? The only person who held the key to the door was her uncle - he'd told her that on multiple occasions.

Had Anna come here with her Uncle? Elsa was beside herself; too scared to move from her position on the bed and too indecisive to do anything about it. Helplessly she watched the door creak and groan.

Then silently, the great iron door swung open.

There was a girl standing there in the entrance. Strawberry blonde hair neatly combed and braided into two long pigtails that fell down her shoulders. There was an awkward half smile on her face- as if she wasn't completely sure opening the door had been the best idea. Elsa's eye traveled up along the bridge of the nose, almost tempted to count the numerous freckles; she saw two enormous green eyes staring at her, their expression unreadable. Their eyes met and silence reigned. Faintly, Elsa's mind registered the light traveling cloak, the boots, the satchel and the leather belt...

That was all beside the point.

It was Anna; definitely Anna. Instinctively, Elsa looked for the strand of white hair and found it- well braided in with the rest but still standing in stark contrast with the bright orange. Then the fact hit her - Anna had grown. They must be the same height now. Anna looked older, shockingly so. Seeing that the last time Elsa saw Anna was when Anna was still eight years old, Elsa realised that she had no right to be surprised; but she was, and it put her thoughts into disarray.

"Elsa?"

Now Elsa finally had a voice to match the face. She blinked, feeling as if all the blood was rushing to her head. Numbly, she nodded; having yet to regain her ability to speak. She saw the other girl take a tentative step forward, her foot landing with a dull thump on the floor inside of the cell. She saw Anna cast her eyes over the hundreds of books lying on the ground. Something was happening to Anna's face- her mouth was twitching at an odd angle, as if she was trying to smile but couldn't. Her eyebrows were trying to frown but were being held back by rapid blinking. It was like every expression known to man was trying to simultaneously express themselves on the girl's face.

Suddenly the girl broke into a run; the change in speed startled Elsa and gave her no time to react. In two steps Anna had covered the distance between the door and the bed; then she lunged. Elsa's eyes went wide with surprise as Anna barrelled into her. The force of the lunging girl caused Elsa to helplessly crash backwards onto her bed, not that it was her main worry. Anna had wrapped her arms around her so tightly Elsa thought she was going to die by asphyxiation. But Elsa didn't mind: if that was how she went then so much the better; she had never felt so warm. It wasn't the warm tinge on the skin the sun gave her when she sat by the window; this warmth went much, much deeper. Elsa really didn't care about the specifics; she felt warm and somehow, it was like she'd already gone to heaven.

After a moment of euphoria, Elsa realised that it couldn't last. Tapping Anna on the shoulder, she gasped:

"Anna...I can't...breathe…"

Breathing was important, and as much as Elsa enjoyed Anna's bear hug, she had her priorities straight. In response, Anna loosened her grip and Elsa gasped for breath. She breathed deeply, feeling there to be something strange about the air. A fresh breeze was blowing through the tunnel and it carried to her scents she'd forgotten had existed. She could smell flowers on the breeze, the light tinge of the ocean, and the deep aroma of pines. She could smell Anna too- or more specifically, what her soap smelled like. Lavender, she was sure.

"It really is you."

Anna murmured her head still buried in Elsa's shoulder.

"It's you, it's you, Elsa...I…"

Elsa did her best to hug her sister back, but the iron gloves made it feel clumsy and heavy handed. Suddenly Anna gave a hiccup and a sniffle.

"I thought you were dead. They told me you were dead. But you were here…"

Her voice was breaking; Elsa realised that her sister was probably going to cry into her shoulder. She didn't mind - she was having a hard time fighting the tears too.

"…all this time."

And with that last sentence, Anna crumbled. The floodgates opened, the heavens collapsed, and Anna bawled into Elsa's shoulder. Now it was Elsa's turn to return the bear hug, pulling her sister tight into her arms as she fought the urge to cry. She settled for nobility in defeat: hot tears ran down her face, collecting unceremoniously on the bottom of her chin.

Hans watched helplessly from the door as the two girls bawled their eyes out. He couldn't stop them; it would be wrong to do so. He shut his eyes - Elsa alive? The implications were mind-boggling, and not in a good way. But there was nothing he could do as of the moment - he would simply have to watch and wait, until things sorted themselves out.

* * *

After three minutes of intense sobbing, Anna finally ran out of steam. Even for her, such displays of emotion could last only so long. She still couldn't quite believe it; what she was hearing, what she was seeing, what, no, _who_ she was touching. It was her sister, it really was. She hadn't known what to expect when she opened the door, but the moment she clapped her eyes on the girl sitting on the bed, she knew. The shining white hair, the pale skin - paler than the winter snow; and the eyes, the intensely blue eyes that looked like all the blue in the world focused into two shining orbs.

But she looked old too, haggard even. Elsa had always been older than Anna so she was used to that; but she hadn't expected to see Elsa as a grown woman. The transition was jarring to say the least. And she was so thin! Anna felt like she could pick her up and carry her out in the crook of her arm. She hadn't even begun to ponder on the two metal things fitted over her sister's hands. And the thought that her sister had been here, wasting away in a tiny prison cell while she was living the high life, made her vision blur with tears. It wasn't simple sadness; there was disbelief in there too. There was happiness, overwhelming happiness; and there was anger, and rage. A toxic mixture of emotions boiled inside Anna - leaving her bewildered and helpless as the waves of tears fell.

Anna felt better after crying. She sniffed loudly and did her best to smile for her sister. Elsa did the same. They were alive, _both_ of them. Anna spoke, but she knew her question was redundant.

"Elsa (it felt so strange to say that name to anything other than a moss-covered rock), why didn't you tell me before?"

Her sister turned her gaze downward, onto the aging fabric of the mattress. For a long while she was silent, a good silent, it was not the silence of refusal but a thoughtful, sad silence. At long last she spoke.

"I...couldn't bring myself to tell you. You seemed so happy on your own; I didn't want to bring it all down again."

Elsa paused, cracked a smile and added:

"After all, finding your dead sister alive after ten years is definitely something in the 'world- shattering' category."

Despite herself, Anna chuckled.

The moment ended with a cough from the door. Both Anna and Elsa looked round to find Hans standing in the doorway, a carefully neutral expression on his face.

"If you don't mind me interrupting, we need to go before the guards come back."

Anna nodded, wiping her face with a hand to clear away any stray tears that hadn't already found themselves transferred to Elsa's shoulder. Looking at Elsa's shoulder, Anna saw with a guilty pang that there was a conspicuously wet patch - despite the dress being black. Anna realised there might also have been some snot there too but tried not to think too hard about it. Elsa didn't seem to mind.

"Thanks Hans." She said with a final sniff. Getting gingerly off the bed, the princess looked back at Elsa.

"Come on, we're busting you out."

"Are you sure? Because if-"

"Elsa, if I even so much as think about leaving you in here, I forfeit my humanity; and anyway," Anna bent down, grabbed Elsa by the hands and hauled her to her feet (she really was light as a feather).

"I can't believe you'd want to stay here any longer than I do."

Brooking no time for argument, Anna began to walk towards the door, Elsa in tow until Elsa stopped suddenly, inches away from the threshold of the door. Anna looked back, confused, until she saw that Elsa was trailing a long link of chains. The chain, large and heavy, was attached to a great black gyve bound around Elsa's left ankle. 'Right', thought Anna, 'forget all about the chains'. For a moment Anna panicked - she had no means by which to break the shackles and she was eager to leave. Elsa too, seemed concerned, but not outright panicked. In fact, Elsa was staring at her gauntlets for some reason. The sound of a sword being drawn caught Anna's ears. Turning, Anna saw Hans walking towards them, a great shining sword in his hand.

"Hans?"

Hans walked past Anna, and stopped in front of Elsa.

"Anna," he said. "You owe me a new sword."

Then in one swift slash, Hans brought his sword crashing down on the iron chains. There was a sharp stabbing screech of metal against metal. Something snapped and hit the wall with a loud ringing 'gong'. When Anna opened her eyes, Hans was frowning at a notch on the side of his blade. Anna looked down at the chains and saw to her astonishment that they had been cut clean through. Anna's eyes traveled back to the sword- that was a heck of a good sword Hans had just put a dent in.

Her eyes stayed on Hans as he walked past her and came to a stop in the doorway. He looked at her, she looked at him. Finally he cracked a grin.

"Well, are we leaving or not?"

* * *

Elsa's feet pattered down the cobblestone pathway of the dungeon. Faintly, at the back of her head, a voice screamed with excitement - she was really doing it! She was out! She was free! But it was all a bit numb, all a bit too much to handle at the present. As such, she had her hand clasped tightly around her sister's, afraid that if she let go, she would wake up.

This had to be a dream. There was simply no way this was real. Right?

She could see the entrance now, just down a flight of stairs; a few more steps, just a few more steps. A few more steps...and she'd be free. She could already feel the prison air leaving her, like casting off a heavy blanket. Something was bubbling just beneath her throat - a strange tension in her stomach. It was excitement, barely kept under control by the thought that she wasn't out just yet. That was all just a few more steps away; just a flight of stairs in between her and the life that had been withheld from her for so long. Suddenly Elsa screeched to a halt as someone stepped into the entrance, casting a long dark shadow over the escaping trio. A gruff voice called out:

"Halt! Who goes there?"

Anna ground to a stop, Hans standing protectively in front of her. The princess peered out from behind him and saw a man emerge from the light at the end of the tunnel. It was a guard, with a bushy moustache over his lips and a frown on his face. The Arendelle guard uniform was glazed black in the torchlight, contrasting with the glint of steel - both Hans and the guard had drawn their swords. The tension between them was palpable. The guard spoke first, a low growl in the undertone.

"Identify yourselves, in the name of King Amund of Arendelle. If you do not resist, your lives will be spared-"

The guard must have suddenly caught sight of the diminutive girl hiding at the back. His expression changed, his jaw was set and he glared up at Hans.

"Choose your next words carefully or be sent to the block. Am I understood?"

Anna saw Hans size up the guard, his hand tightening on the sword. Suddenly, Hans lunged. For a moment, he was a blur of white in the darkened tunnel, sword whistling through the air. The guard, caught completely off-guard by Hans, could barely react as his sword was knocked from his grasp. Clutching his hand, he stumbled back; but Hans was onto him in an instant. The prince's hand latched onto the side of the guard's helmet; then Hans, with a grunt of effort, slammed the man's head into the wall such that the stone cracked with the force of the impact. The guard crumbled to the ground.

Anna watched Hans breathe out a sigh and let his shoulders sag. He turned around and sheathed his sword.

"We need to leave, now!"

It was an order and one Anna was more than happy to follow. Hand in hand with her sister, Anna ran down the steps after the prince, boots clattering over the steps. Several times she came close to slipping on the smooth stone steps and several times either Elsa or Hans steadied her feet. Anna reached the bottom of the steps and her heart sank. Jogging up to meet them were at least half a dozen more guards, all of them with swords drawn. She guessed her Uncle's message must have finally reached the intended hands.

The two groups came to a screeching halt opposite each other just outside the dungeon's entrance. For a moment, no one spoke, each group just as surprised to see the other. Then the captain of the guards, a great bearded fellow in blue and gold armor and a great cape hanging from his shoulders, raised his sword at the three prison breakers and shouted:

"Seize them!"

Quick as a flash, Hans drew his sword, halting the attack long enough to let him turn to Anna and say:

"Anna, get your sister out of here, I'll hold them off. Now go!"

The last Anna saw of Hans was him squaring off with the captain. The rest of the soldiers stared dumbly on. Though some attempted to give chase, Anna lost them quickly in the thick pine forest.

* * *

Author's note:

Boom! Here it is! The happy chapter.

But don't leave me yet. The story isn't over, not even close.

Once again, thank you for all your reviews! You've actually made me like checking my email notifications now...so...good job. :)


	7. Into the Night

_Chapter 6: Into the night._

Elsa had lost track of how long they had been running, if running was even the correct word to use. Navigating the pine forest was a combination of jumping over tangled roots, ducking under twisted branches and trying not to slip on the odd pile of pine needles. At first, the sensation of running had been an exhilarating one - feeling the wind brush over her skin and comb through her hair was a nice sensation. However, her legs soon began to ache, and she began to lag behind her physically tougher little sister. Anna had been kind and slowed down her pace, but even then, Elsa was still having trouble. At long last, she simply could not go on; the thumping of her heart was all that she could hear, and her lungs were gasping desperately- never getting enough air in a single heave.

They had no choice but to stop and crawl into a little dell sloping away from the mountain. They had been running along the mountain ridge, trying to find a way into town without coming in too close to the castle walls. It was tough going, and for a girl who'd missed her breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it was almost impossible. Elsa collapsed into a heap at the base of a large pine tree, chest heaving with every breath. She was sweating so much she thought she was going to melt; the fact that she had run with a shackle still fastened to her left ankle was only outdone by the fact that she was also running on bare feet.

It was a miracle she hadn't cut herself on something.

Looking up, Elsa saw her sister standing beside her. It felt strange; because if anything, their roles had been reversed: the younger was now protecting the older. Elsa was really in no position to complain, seeing that it was her legs that gave out. According to Anna, it was supposed to be a 'short run' through the woods. Elsa guessed that Anna had forgotten about the fact that she hadn't done any real running in ten years.

Elsa reached up and gently wiped a handful of sweat from her brow. Her hair was already a mess, but considering the fact that they might soon be running again, there was no point in tidying up her appearance. Anna sat down heavily beside her, her dress carelessly sinking into the loamy earth. She began to dig around in her satchel and, with a rustle of paper, produced from its depths a single package wrapped in paper. From its smell, Elsa guessed it was food.

"Here." said Anna, unwrapping the package. "Food."

Elsa soon found an egg and ham sandwich deposited in her lap. She tried to protest the offering:

"Anna, if there's just one sandwich-" Her sister cut her off.

"Not listening. It's yours, eat it. I'm not the walking skeleton here."

"What? I am not a walking skeleton."

"Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately?"

"Yes."

"Then you know what I mean."

Elsa would have furthered her protest had her stomach not uttered a mighty growl. Anna smirked in triumph.

"How about half each?" Said Elsa, noble in defeat.

"Elsa, as long as you eat something, I'm happy."

"Alright."

While Elsa bit hungrily into her share of the food, Anna un-crumpled a sheet of paper and stared at it. Elsa, from a series of sidelong glances, saw that it was a series of instructions.

' _Your ship leaves tomorrow morning, before dawn. The HMS Dauntless will take you to Corona_.'

Elsa didn't get much further than that before Anna stowed the piece of paper away again.

"Water?" Asked Anna.

Elsa nodded, mouth still full of sandwich. Elsa saw her sister smile as she produced the water pouch from her belt. Anna looked to be in a great mood; perhaps she was enlivened by the fact that she was actually looking after her sister; or perhaps she was simply happy her sister was alive. Elsa closed her eyes, a smile playing on her lips. She would ponder on the morality of this escape later; for now she would simply live in the moment.

* * *

It was dark by the time they made it back into Arendelle town. Anna heaved a sigh when she saw the break in the trees and the lights of the township peeping through the gloom. They hadn't gone high enough into the mountains to meet any ice harvesters so their trek through the forest had mainly relied on Anna's sense of direction.

Needless to say, what might have been a thirty minute stroll became a six hour long hike. Anna patted Elsa on the back: for an underfed, sickly looking girl in a nightgown, her sister was tough. She'd collapsed a few times, sure, but she had always gotten up in the end; not to mention the shackle and the huge iron gloves that must be weighing her down- she'd have to ask about the gloves later.

Having navigated their way past some of the larger estates, Anna saw that they were a line of trees away from entering the actual town. They hadn't come in through the gates; instead they had leapt several fences and vaulted several walls, which probably explained why Elsa was now nothing more than a dead weight. Anna still hadn't completely registered the fact that Elsa was here to stay. A small part of her brain wasn't convinced she was totally awake no matter how many times she pinched herself. Then again, if she dwelt on the subject for too long, she might end up crying; and that was definitely not needed right now.

"Elsa, let's go."

Her sister mumbled something inaudible and got stiffly to her feet. Anna could see that she was barely standing.

"Come on, I know a place where we could spend the night."

* * *

Mr Mark Eisenhower was considered by many to be well advanced in age, though he himself would never, at the age of fifty, admit the fact. He was losing the last of his hair, and his belly protruded no matter how much he controlled his diet. Despite all this, his mind was sharp as ever - it had to be if he was to keep his place as the royal maths tutor of Arendelle. He liked his job, and despite almost twenty years in service, still wished that someone had warned him just how strange his job could sometimes be. Running after two hyper-active princesses wasn't mentioned in the job description; neither was keeping secrets about ice magic; nor was being a shoulder to cry on ever mentioned as being one of his duties. By the time Anna had grown fast enough to outrun him, he had already established her favourite routes of escape. Anna gave him special respect as the master she could never fool, and he knew it.

Considering that, today was an off day for him. Anna's maths lessons were in the afternoon, which allowed him the leisure of blaming Anna's evident morning escape on the other tutors. However, she usually turned up for his lessons out of pure respect- an act he actively encouraged and took pride in over the years. It did something for your self-confidence when a truant pupil would skip all her other classes but still be punctual for yours.

But today Anna didn't show; and when she was missing from all her usual haunts, Mr Eisenhower could smell a rat in the air. Suspicious though he was, he calmly returned home; after all, his daughter was coming home in a few days' time, along with her husband, fresh from England. But uneasiness had hung over Mr Eisenhower the entire day, like a languid rain cloud refusing to rain, yet refusing to disappear. Either Anna was in need of a real telling off, or she had gone and broken her leg again; neither of which was good news. By the time evening prayers were finished, Mark had mostly recovered from his suspicions; realizing that they were probably the unfounded fears of an old man not used to being given the slip.

Then came the knock on the door. It was late and bedtime ticking by. Frowning, he called out from his seat by the fireplace:

"Isn't it a bit late for visitors? If it isn't urgent, please come back tomorrow morning."

The knock came again and the maths tutor could not help but get up from his rocking chair, making his way carefully to the door. Imagine his surprise when Anna's voice echoed through the door latch:

"Please sir, may we stay the night?"

"We?" He said to himself, more than anyone else.

'And why on God's earth are you running around out here at so late an hour' he would liked to have add, but he guessed he would find out soon enough. Swinging open the door, he stared out into the dark and saw Anna standing on his porch, her face lit by candlelight. There were pine needles sticking out of her hair, which narrowed down the number of places she could have been. He was about to ask her to come in and take a seat when his eyes fell upon the second girl standing behind Anna; then his jaw went slack with disbelief.

He never forgot a face, and that included faces he hadn't seen in ten years. White hair, pale skin, and ice blue eyes so bright they seemed to glow in the dark. Eyes he thought he'd never see again. Eyes he'd never thought he'd see to be so old.

"Elsa?"

Seldom did Mark Eisenhower suffer from incoherence; yet as he stood on his doorstep looking at a pupil he thought dead, he found his speech wholly arrested. His eyes flew from Anna to Elsa, Elsa to Anna, then back again; all the while his mouth worked soundlessly for the words he needed to say. Finally, he managed a hushed:

"I have forgotten my manners. Come in, princesses and make yourself at home."

Making way, he let the two girls in and ushered them to the sitting room. There was no fire yet in the hearth for it was summer, and the only light came from an array of candles mounted over the fireplace. Anna and Elsa seated themselves on the couch, across from their math tutor's great rocking chair.

Mr Eisenhower followed them slowly, taking a moment to set the kettle before joining his two students beside the empty fireplace. His eyes trailed Anna, a knowing smile forming on the edge of his lips: so there had been a very good reason she had skipped his class today! He was more than willing to let her off this time without a reprimand. Then he allowed himself the time to carefully study Elsa; it had been so long since he last saw the child that her mature appearance grated on his nerves.

There were some things that time didn't change - the white hair and the pale skin; the way she sat with her hands folded across her lap. And then there were the things that had changed - for one, Elsa was now a grown woman, and that was jarring; but what disturbed him more so was the haunted look in those bright blue eyes of hers. She was shifty, nervous, and at the same time, bewildered. The Elsa he remembered was calm, collected and confident. The young woman that now sat opposite him looked like she was barely keeping herself together. And she was so thin! Elsa had always been one of lithe build but her figure now was simply unnatural. Wherever they had been keeping her, it had not been a pleasant stay. Mr Eisenhower grimaced; he still remembered the day the new king had performed the burial rituals for King Agnarr, Queen Idunn and young Princess Elsa. It had drizzled, the day they buried the royal family; but for Mark, it had poured.

Placed in such an uncomfortable predicament, Mark did what was most natural to him: he opened his pantry and made ready as good a supper as could be prepared in a few hasty minutes.

* * *

"So…"

Elsa shifted herself slightly to make room for Anna on the couch. Her younger sister collapsed into the vacated space with such abysmal grace, her etiquette tutor would have turned in his sleep. The older sibling smiled as her sister made herself comfortable next her; this warmth, this new sensation of having company, was indescribably luxurious… though it did mean an occasional elbow to the ribs. As it turned out, Anna wasn't always very controlled in her actions.

"So…uh…"

Elsa turned herself to face Anna, who was obviously on the verge of broaching some sort of conversation. Enamoured with such an expectation, Elsa fixed upon her sister such a stare that would subdue even the most verbose of all speakers. It was not on purpose. Unsurprisingly, Anna's gaze dropped, her words continuing to scramble out of her mouth without much purpose.

"You know, I just wanted to say- ask …"

Pause.

"How're you feeling?" It had all the motivation towards conversation as a limp noodle.

"I'm fine," said Elsa. It was a terribly flat thing to say, but there really wasn't much else she could think of. Elsa followed her sister's gaze as it flitted around the room like a lost butterfly; landing on the tea kettle; hovering around the tinted windows; peering at the door that led to the back room and the kitchen; and finally settling on the carpet- fascinated by the repeating hexagonal colours. She had never realised how many freckles there were on Anna's face till now. Suddenly, Anna's eyes rose and met hers; Elsa almost flinched, but managed to hide the notion by pretending to study her own two feet, which were exceptionally muddy after the day's adventures.

The silence that followed was painfully tense. Elsa found her toes becoming increasingly fascinating; she could almost hear the million-and-one questions that were inside Anna's brain, begging for release. The state of her own mind wasn't much better- there was so much she wanted to talk about, to know. Ten years had passed in the world since she had been in it. Ten years she had lost through the window of her jail cell. Elsa frowned- surely there was something she could say beyond the blatantly bland 'I'm fine'? She thought back, back to the mountain, back before the mountain, back to the cell…

"Um-"

"Anna…"

They had both spoken at once. Their words smacked into each other mid- air and died swift deaths; leaving both girls open mouthed and scrambling for a comeback.

"Sorry, I was just-"

"No, no, you first-"

Two more collisions and the war was no closer to being won. The scales quivered, tipping neither here nor there. Silence paraded itself the victor. Luckily for Elsa, her sister was slightly quicker than her on the uptake:

"Elsa, you first," she said.

"Really? I don't know what I'm trying to say…" Her response was rather pathetic, but her sister nudged her in the right direction.

"Elsa, just say anything you want…"

But before Elsa could get a word out, Anna managed to add:

"Well…not anything you want, but I mean, say anything…actually, you know what, forget I even opened my mouth. Just talk to me."

Elsa smiled. The years had come flooding back: all those nights of sitting against the giant metal door, waiting for the light pitter and patter of Anna's footsteps to drift up the tunnel; all those nights of simply sitting and listening, feeling that somehow, if she wished, she could live life through Anna's eyes. Now she was sitting here, safely cradled within the home of her old math tutor, with Anna sitting by her side. Her dream was real now, and it was wonderful. She had also forgotten what she was going to say.

"Where do I even start?" Elsa gave a small chuckle and fiddled with the iron on her gloves. "Sometimes I pinch myself just to make sure this isn't a dream, you know? All these years I've tried to imagine what it would feel like to be outside…but now that I'm here, with you…" Elsa relapsed back into silence. Her sister leaned forward, took her gloved hands in her own and gave them a squeeze.

"But you're here now. This isn't a dream. I can barely believe it myself, by the way."

The silence began to stretch before Elsa remembered something rather important- something she'd meant to say before they had even left the tunnel.

"Anna," the hug came naturally. "Anna, thank you."

"Uh…." Anna was obviously not expecting the hug and could only contribute stunned silence. She recovered soon enough, however, and patted Elsa firmly on the back. "You're…you're welcome."

But Elsa was content on simply hugging, leaving Anna to do the talking. The younger sibling took the cue and obliged: "You know, I almost didn't believe Kai when he first told me about you being in the prison."

Elsa broke from the hug and looked at her sister with an eyebrow raised: "Kai? Our butler?"

"Yeah," Anna continued; "I had half a mind to put him in stocks for the rest of the day; ruining my breakfast like that."

"The stocks?"

"Or prison; whichever was free. I mean, he basically told me that all this time, the girl I had been secretly talking to, the girl in the dungeon- you- that I had left my sister to rot away in a cell for…ten years…" Elsa saw her sister's smile crumble into a frown.

"Hey," this time it was Elsa who gave Anna's hands a squeeze. "It's not your fault."

Anna didn't budge.

"I mean it Anna; it's not your fault." Elsa reiterated her statement.

Elsa watched as her sister's gaze rose to meet hers; it was tentative, uncertain. Their eyes met, if only briefly; but Anna understood. Elsa could feel the tension drifting away.

"Come on, Anna, you even came to visit."

"Yeah, that I did," the princess of Arendelle smiled, and, sensing a line of thought, pursued it.

"You didn't mind did you? Being subject to hours of my inane rambling."

Elsa chuckled: "Of course not. If it meant I got cookies and chocolate, I would have listened for days."

The taunt was slow to be digested but, once understood, caused Anna to rear back like a cobra.

"Elsa!" The princess exclaimed, scandalized.

Elsa laughed. How long had it been since she had laughed? How much longer still, since she had laughed with another person? All those years, like clouds, hung silent.

"Anna, I'm only teasing."

The princess stared back, bewildered, mouth still slightly open after her reprimand, indignation still colouring her cheeks. But the laugh cured it all, and Anna's features broke into a massive grin.

"That's the first time I've heard you laugh," said the princess.

"It's been a while." Elsa sobered down.

"I can tell; you're out of practice."

Without warning, Anna lunged forwards and dug her hands into Elsa's sides. Elsa squealed and fought back. Unfortunately, in the midst of the flailing arms and the laughter, one of Elsa's iron clad gloves collided with Anna's head with a ringing 'clang'. Anna hastily retreated, hands covering her head.

"Oh no," Elsa panicked, her hands frozen in mid-air: too eager to comfort but too afraid to cause more damage. "Anna, are you okay?"

"Yup." The reply was slightly forced. "Just give me a moment."

A moment was given. Cold sweat had started to break out on Elsa, who had momentarily forgotten the huge cumbersome things that were her hands. She might as well have been wearing battering rams. Thankfully, her sister was fast to recover.

"Yikes," Anna nursed the side of her head. "You're lucky I have a thick skull."

"Anna, I'm so sorry-"

"No, no, don't be. I think I had that coming." Anna stopped rubbing her head to glare suspiciously at the metal things that covered Elsa's hands.

"What are they anyway?"

"They're gloves."

"I know they're gloves; what I mean is: what are they doing on your hands?"

"Oh…" Elsa paused, no answer forthcoming. "Um…"

She sank into silence. The urge was strong, the urge to just _tell he_ r. Just tell Anna the truth about the prison; the truth about her hands; about everything. Elsa bit down on her lip to staunch the flow of words that was threatening burst forth. _Just tell her_. Elsa tried to open her mouth- she couldn't well leave her sister hanging- but found her lips frozen shut. _Just tell her_. She couldn't do it, but it was so simple! Elsa knew that whatever she said, Anna would still smile and laugh and accept it. Elsa knew that, yet the words just wouldn't come. Her mouth wouldn't move. _Just tell her_. Why couldn't she say it? Her gloves clenched and unclenched, willing away the time, hoping against hope that Anna wouldn't notice her silence. How could she not notice? Anna was sitting right next to her. She couldn't tell her; Elsa just couldn't. She stared at the iron covering her hands and breathed in deeply. She couldn't see her hands, it was all under control.

"Elsa?"

Elsa sat mute as her subconscious gave one last heave: _just tell her_. Even while she was glancing down, she could still see the white strand of hair on Anna's head, braided in with the rest but never truly hidden. It was just one strand, never significant unless it was purposely looked for. It was just one strand, but it reminded her of what her aunt had looked like. The image was horrible and Elsa tried to blink the thought away; nevertheless she could see it: Anna's strawberry blonde hair turning white within minutes, the cheery summer blonde giving way to the deathly white like spoilt food to the mold. A single tear rolled down her cheek and splattered itself over the cold metal fingers.

"Elsa? Are you crying?"

"Hm?" The prisoner looked up and saw her sister gazing at her intently, her eyes burning with concern and compassion; maybe even a little pity.

"Oh, no, I'm fine Anna." Elsa sniffed and reined it all in. "Sorry about that."

"You don't look fine." Anna leaned forward and brushed away the remaining moisture in the prisoner's eyes. "I'm sorry, was that a bad question?"

"It's okay," Elsa said. "It's just…maybe not now. I'll tell you later?"

"Deal," her sister chirped. "I'm guessing that it's somehow related to why they locked you up in the first place?"

Elsa nodded dumbly.

Anna leaned back into the comfortable leather of the couch and pretended to check off an invisible list.

"So don't mention the gloves, don't mention the prison…" Anna looked up at Elsa, the hint of a smile on the corners of her mouth. "Did I miss anything, your Majesty?"

Elsa nodded- it was an automatic movement- but then froze once she registered what was actually said. "Wait, what? Your majesty?"

"Yeah, well, uncle agreed to be king until one of us had come of ruling age…at least that's what my politics tutor told me. So, technically, since you're three years older than me (that makes you…twenty one?), you're the rightful ruler of Arendelle."

"Oh…"

If Elsa hadn't gotten cold sweat, she did now. The perspiration was like the morning dew, but it was neither refreshing nor helpful.

"Oh," she said again, eyes roaming for something to hang on to.

"Don't freak out!" Anna exclaimed, placing two stabilizing hands on Elsa's shoulders. Elsa stared back at Anna, slightly bewildered, mostly in shock. She was beginning to see that there were many things she had not considered when she had left her cell.

"I'm…" The rightful queen drew a long shuddering breath and let it out slowly, letting her shoulders sag in their fatigue. "I'm good…not freaking out…not yet."

Reaching up, Elsa ran her gloved fingers through her hair, destroying the long braid that she had taken so long to make. It was clumsily made and came apart without much resistance; her white mop of hair flopped down messily over her shoulders. Her hands were shaking.

"This was not how I thought this day would go." She finally declared, once her wits had been gathered. This elicited a chuckle from her sister.

"Elsa, Anna."

Both girls looked up as Mark re-entered the scene. Faintly, Elsa could smell a rich aroma drifting in from the kitchen. Her stomach growled and all thoughts on her conversation with Anna were temporarily forgotten.

"I must apologize for taking so long. Are you two hungry?"

"Yes!" was the resounding reply.

* * *

Two loaves of unleavened bread were brought before them and broken, along with the roast lamb he had prepared for tomorrow; the kettle too, was finally whistling.

However, before any eating was to be done, Mark saw to it that Elsa was properly looked after; and that meant getting the shackles off her feet, as well as the iron gloves off her hands. Baths could wait. The shackle came off as easily as any shackle would with the encouragement of a hammer and some pliers. Mark allowed himself a small smile as both girls watched him wrestle open the shackles with barely contained excitement. The gloves, however, were something else altogether. Emboldened by his success with the shackles, he had attacked the lock on the gloves with enthusiasm. That enthusiasm dissipated when his pliers snapped in two without leaving so much as a scratch. Elsa looked guilty but said nothing.

Mark frowned and put on his spectacles. Upon inspection, he realised that the gloves were no ordinary prison-wear. The metal, though possessing all the look and feel of iron, it was harder and heavier. Staring hard at the impeccably smooth surface, the maths tutor fancied that he could see the faintest etchings of language. Strange hieroglyphs were etched into the glove's fingers.

Now Mark was no language teacher, but anyone who had spent a good summer in Arendelle would have seen the so called 'fairy rocks' in the hills. These stony outcroppings were thought to be the home of trolls; they had an otherworldly feeling towards them, and they were covered in strange markings from top to bottom. It did not take a genius to recognise the similarities between the words etched into Elsa's iron gloves and the troll-speak carved in the fairy rocks. It did not take Mark long to connect the dots: obviously, whoever put Elsa in prison had ice magic on his mind. After several attempts with the hammer, Mark gave up and told the girls that they would need a professional blacksmith to undo the metal work that covered Elsa's hands. After that, it was only a matter of washing up and setting the table.

Mark saw with some inward degree of satisfaction that his hospitality was well received, for both girls glowed with delight at the meal. Abandoning their hard-taught manners, they ate with zeal, Elsa more so than her sister, till the bread was naught but a few crumbs in the basket, and the leg of lamb all but devoured.

The old maths tutor took his usual seat in the rocking chair and silently watched as the two girls ate. He now had much to consider, not least of which was the chaos that would soon descend upon the kingdom; for it came to his attention that there must be a small group of people in the know. The length of their reach was testified by the key to Elsa's dungeon - such an object could not have been known to many; it would seem that Amund's enemies were closer than he thought.

But was Elsa's freedom their only objective? Say that was their end goal - to liberate Elsa - then it would have been just as effective to send some common servant to do the job. Instead they sent Anna, a person whose absence was sure to be noticed. Mark Eisenhower could only assume that these people, responsible for the events that had just transpired, were not solely focused on Elsa. Doubtless Elsa featured mainly in their plans, and doubtless Amund was their target - for it was his rule that Elsa's freedom would crumble. The old maths tutor sighed and rubbed his forehead- politics was not his field.

A soft snore drew his attention back to the waking world. He looked up and saw the girls fast asleep- Elsa with her head on Anna's shoulder and Anna leaning on the side of the couch. The fire was burning low and the tea was growing cold; Mr Eisenhower stood from his chair and, after wishing the girls a silent goodnight, cloaked them with a spare blanket and drew the curtains. Doubtless the girls had been through a long day, they would need a long rest too.

* * *

Author note:

Hey guys! Thank you for sticking with me so far! I've been loving the reviews- it's great to hear from you guys and find out what you guys feel and feast on your tears... did I say that out loud?

Anyhow, I've decided that you all deserve a second happy chapter- one that does not end with a cliff hanger! As such, I'm going to be taking a break from posting for a few weeks, if only because of assignments etc etc (I also need to finish writing the later chapters).

Peace out.


	8. Dawn

_I do not own Frozen._

* * *

 _Chapter 7: Dawn._

When Anna awoke, it was still dark. Her shoulder felt numb; looking over, Anna found that her freshly woken mind needed several seconds to process the presence of the second person on the couch. She saw the white hair; the pale face; the black dress; and the great metal gloves; and finally her brain processed it: it was Elsa! It hadn't been a dream. Anna stared at Elsa for a good minute, reveling in the new found feeling of having a sibling again. It all came back to her: Kai; the escape plan; the ships! They needed to leave before the King found them; princess though she was, Amund was King. Anna was loth to move, but the moment was over and they needed to leave. Grudgingly, Anna extracted herself from the couch, allowing Elsa to flop onto the rest of the couch; incredibly, Elsa slept through it.

Trudging slowly over to the dinner table, Anna groped around in the darkness till she found her trusty satchel hung over the back of one the chairs. Reaching inside, Anna felt around till her fingers brushed against paper. To her surprise, there was a lot more in her satchel then before; judging by the smell, her tutor had taken the time to pack lunch for her as well.

'Lunch for two,' she thought with a smile.

Walking slowly, taking care not to creak the floorboards, Anna made her way back to the couch where her sister still slept. Standing there, Anna found that she had gained a new understanding of the phrase 'out like a log'.

"Elsa?" She whispered softly. "Elsa, wake up, we need to go."

Elsa didn't even stir.

"Pssst, Elsa," said Anna, frowning. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

Anna punctuated her request by softly shaking Elsa's shoulder. This at least got her a response.

"Anna, go back to sleep." Said Elsa, voice barely a soft murmur.

Anna turned to fetch cold water, but Elsa roused herself of her own accord.

"Anna," said Elsa, yawning, "What time is it? It's still dark."

"Time to leave," said Anna, running out of patience. She helped her sister up and brushed her hair out of her face. "Come on Elsa, there's a ship waiting for us at the harbor."

Elsa hummed in response, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

"Alright," Elsa said, yawning. "I'm up for anything."

The girls were about to leave the house when they were stopped by the lighting of a candle. Turning, they saw that despite their best efforts, their tutor was awake. Anna smiled and curtseyed, Elsa quickly followed suit.

"Mark, thank you so much for helping us," Said Anna. "I'll do everything in my power to repay your kindness when it's all over."

The mathematician merely smiled.

"Don't trouble yourself about it, Anna; just focus on the task at hand. I wish you two good fortunes in the trials to come. I suppose you'll be missing quite a few lessons in the near future."

Anna beamed, but finding no more words for such a parting, left the house. Elsa gave her math teach a sad smile; it was a pity she had to leave in such a hurry.

"Goodbye Elsa," said Mark. "Resurrection isn't to be squandered."

Elsa smiled at that. "I won't. I Promise." Then she turned and left, shutting the door softly behind her.

Now outside, Anna saw that the sky was turning a faint pink. Sunrise was approaching and they needed to move. Anna felt a slight pinch of panic: what if they miss the boat? She didn't want to think about such an unpleasant possibility. A chill breeze blew through the empty streets, it was still deathly silent. Here and there however, Anna could see lights in the windows. Fishermen got up early so they could make the morning markets with their catch, and soon there would be more than just fishermen in the streets. Anna broke into a run before remembering that she had a sister. Turning, she saw Elsa struggling to keep up. The night had given her food and sleep, but now her muscles were really giving her a slice of their opinion. Anna stopped.

"Oh Elsa, I'm so sorry," Said Anna.

"It's... nothing," said Elsa between gasps of air. "Really, I just need to get used to running after lying in a cell for a decade."

Anna couldn't tell if her sister was being sarcastic. She decided to trust the wry smile on Elsa's face and move on.

"It's not so far, we'll make it." Anna said.

The two girls moved on down the street; slower now, and more cautious. Keeping under the eaves of the houses, they made their way to the port. Anna's heart raced as the forest of sails came to view, peeking over the roofs of the houses. They had made it; but the final stretch of their journey was going to be over the docks themselves. There was no shelter anymore and some fishermen had already begun to gather, preparing their nets for the day to come. Anna gulped nervously, the terrible specter of failure loomed over her. Suddenly, a heavy weight was placed on her shoulder. It was Elsa, placing an iron glove on her shoulder in reassurance.

"Anna, it'll be fine. Everything's going to be fine." She said.

Anna smiled and put a hand on the glove.

The two shared a smile before setting off on the docks with renewed determination. The wooden planks creaked beneath their feet and not a few fishermen stopped their chores to stare. Anna shrugged them off and kept on walking. She could see the ship now- it was a Coronan trading ship, their stylized sun plastered over the sails. Strangely, it seemed to be deserted as not a soul could be seen on its deck. Over the water, the morning sun peeked out and filled the air with a glorious golden light. Anna ran up to the boarding ramp, sister in tow. There was no one there to mind the ramp so Anna simply pushed on ahead and boarded.

"Um, are you sure this is a good idea?" Said Elsa; halfway up the ramp.

"Yeah; why?" Anna asked, looking back at her sister with slight confusion.

"I don't know, Anna. It just feels...wrong to walk onto someone's ship uninvited." Elsa's brow began to furrow. "Maybe we should wait."

"Oh come on, Elsa." Said Anna, taking her sister by the glove and dragging her onto the deck of the ship. "Of course we're invited."

Anna took out the slip of paper given to her by Kai and handed it to Elsa. "Trading ship by morning, sails to Corona. Kai had it all planned out." She said triumphantly.

Someone laughed.

"No doubt, no doubt," croaked an old familiar voice. "I'm sure Kai and his friends had everything planned out quite nicely."

Anna could see the colour drain from Elsa's face, not that she thought it possible for something so pale to get paler. Yet she knew that her own expression couldn't have been much better. The speaker emerged from the ship's hold, boots clanking coldly on the weather worn wood; the golden crown he wore sparkled in the morning sun.

"Hello Anna," said Amund, all recovered from his previous ailments.

"Uncle..."

The sails of the ship hung limp. In the deathly silence of the morning, the only thing Anna could hear was the beating of her own heart.


	9. The Dauntless

_Chapter 8: Capture_

Boots marching to the right; boots marching to the left; boots marching in from behind; and more boots marching up from the galleys. Soldiers poured onto the docks from their hiding positions; soldiers emerged from nearby ships; soldiers everywhere, swarming the deck of the HMS Dauntless. The girls were surrounded, trapped within the confines of a cage of spears. The sunlight glinted off the spearheads, each a cold sharp deterrent to escape.

"Hello Anna," said Amund, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

"Uncle…" Anna's voice trailed off into silence. Elsa stood cowering behind Anna, clutching her sister's arm like a drowning animal.

"Princess," spoke her uncle, his tone growing to one of imperative volume. "I'm going to have to ask you to step away from the prisoner."

For a moment, Anna actually moved, so ingrained was it in her to obey her uncle's wishes. It was just a step, one small step to the side; but it caused Elsa to cling to Anna all the tighter. Anna thought her arm was going to lose circulation with the way Elsa was hanging on to her. Anna stopped herself in her tracks and glared defiantly back at her uncle.

"No," she said with finality.

"No?" parroted her uncle, feigning surprise.

"No," said Anna, "I will not leave my sister."

This declaration caused quite a stir. Anna could see her uncle's eyes narrow and his jaw visibly stiffen. The guards that surrounded the two girls exchanged sidelong glances. Behind her, Anna could feel Elsa relax her death grip on her arm.

"Anna," her uncle spoke again, this time with a softer tone. "Anna, I will not ask a third time…"

"Don't bother." retorted Anna.

Despite the interruption, Amund continued: "…step away from the prisoner. That is an order from your King."

Once again the impulse to step aside seized Anna. It was a testament to a good education: Anna knew that to disobey a direct order from the King was tantamount to treason, even for a princess. Anna seriously doubted that the guards surrounding them cared who Elsa was; Elsa: who should be Queen.

"Did I stutter, Uncle?" Anna ground the words out of her mouth. A free spirit though she was, open rebellion against the crown was not one of her hobbies. Amund's expression didn't even twitch.

"Princess Anna, you have tried my patience for too long." Turning to the guards around him, Amund commanded: "Seize them!"

Anna took a step forward and planted herself between her Uncle and her sister.

"Uncle, you can't do this…"

The plea fell on deaf ears. Strong hands caught Anna by the shoulders and tore her away from Elsa; Anna struggled but soon found herself caught in a headlock of iron. Amund made his way leisurely to Anna, like cat who had finally cornered its prey and was now deciding how best to entertain itself before it went in for the killing blow. Anna glared; if looks could kill, Amund would have dissolved into foam.

"Now look at what you've done." The King's tone had dipped down to a cool reprimand.

"Do you realise, princess," Amund continued, "that freeing a prisoner of the King with the intent to escape is treason?"

Anna stared back; her stomach slowly twisting itself into a knot. Over the last few minutes, without the help of her uncle's menacing exposition, the realization of her situation had begun to sink in. She had really done it this time; this was no longer the stuff of break legs and skipping classes.

"I could have you executed." Amund stated simply. "Other monarchs have been executing their nieces and nephews for centuries."

A lump had risen in Anna's throat- and not the good sort of lump either; this was the threat of death, not a tearful reunion. A girl of seventeen, princess though she was, was not someone prepared to face the prospect of dying on the block. Execution! Anna had never before entertained the thought: not when she was sneaking out to the dungeon; not when she was unlocking the dungeon door; not when she had been sneaking around the city at dusk with her sister. Back then, she had only known that there was danger, but only the sort of danger that came from being caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Of course, that meant the same sort of dangerous excitement that came with stealing cookies from the pantry. Back then the danger had been vague and far away- a sort of dark and stormy cloud she could avoid if only she tried hard enough.

Dying on the block! Anna's keen imagination had already drawn the scene out for her. She'd be led to the platform hands tied and legs shackled. They'd put her head under the guillotine and then… Anna cringed and did her best to put the image of the falling blade out of her mind. She was beginning to regret her involvement in the whole debacle.

Amund seemed to sense the fear from his niece, for he added:

"Of course, I won't have you executed. I'm not that sort of King." Amund cupped his hand around Anna's chin and tilted her head upwards so that she could see his face.

"You are my niece after all; the child of my departed brother. What sort of family would I be if I were to kill my brother's last surviving child?"

Anna could only stare dumbly back at her uncle. Words, which had come so readily beforehand, simply refused to form in her mind. Her uncle looked down at her and, for a moment, she thought she could see a faint smile on the corners of his mouth- not a bad smile, but one that held a certain fatherly dignity. Then the smile disappeared and Amund's expression hardened. He let go of Anna's face and turned to the troops gathered around them.

"Escort the princess back to her quarters. She's had a rough morning."

The troops responded promptly. Anna found herself standing on her own two feet as the headlock was released with a quiet apology from the guard behind her. She didn't respond, having yet to overcome the shock of being faced with the consequences of her actions. Faintly, she was aware of being led off the ship; somewhere in the back of her mind, something tried desperately to tell her that she was leaving someone behind. The princess ignored the little voice and kept on walking.

* * *

Alas for the older sister, her grip on Anna's arm had slipped during the confrontation; when Anna was torn away, someone had kicked her legs from under her. All of a sudden, Elsa had found herself pinned prostrate to the deck of the ship by several armed guards. The stench of old seawater and sun-baked salt rose from the wooden boards of the deck to mix with the taste of blood in her mouth; she grimaced as one of the guards dug his knee into the small of her back to make sure she stayed down.

From her new vantage point, she could barely see the exchange between her uncle and her sister. Squinting against the rays of the morning sun, Elsa saw Anna. She watched as her sister blanched, her freckled face turning ashen white. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear the things her uncle was saying over the throbbing of her own heart and the gasps of her own breath. Then it was all over; Amund gestured to the ramp and Elsa watched as her sister walked off the ship flanked by two guards.

Anna didn't even turn to look at her.

The heavy boots clanked her way and she found the sun blocked out by the imposing figure of her uncle. He knelt down beside her, as if sensing how uncomfortable it was to have the sun in her face.

"It's too bad that we could only borrow this ship from the Coronans. I would have liked to kill you here. Alas, we'll just have to make do with something else."

Amund stood up. "They burn witches on the continent. Did you know that?"

Elsa could only grit her teeth against the tears. The expression on Amund's face had said it all. She allowed herself to be hauled to her feet by the guards; a large potato sack was dumped over her head- a deterrent to the curious eyes of the public. Elsa didn't struggle, there was no point. The guards walked her off the ship- there was a carriage waiting for them on the docks. Elsa found out about the carriage when the guards picked her up and bundled her in. From the sound it made when it was shut Elsa guessed that the door, along with the rest of the vehicle, was made out of iron.

Slowly, the carriage rattled to life as the horses started moving. Reaching up, Elsa lifted off the potato sack and was surprised to find that she was alone inside the carriage. Glancing around, she saw herself in something that resembled a large iron box. The only openings in the box were two small slits cut into the door. Through the slits drifted the sounds of the townsfolk, muffled and confused by the walls of the carriage. Hesitantly, Elsa pressed herself against the door and peered through the openings. At first, the sunlight made her squint and blink, but her eyes soon adjusted and she could see clearly as the carriage bumped along the stony paths of the city. The first thing she saw was the pavement, its round stones glinting cool chrome in the good weather; then she saw the people- the townsfolk- all up and ready for the markets. The people of Arendelle stood a respectful distance from the carriage; dissuaded, no doubt, from excessive curiosity by the rows of royal guards that flanked the horse-drawn cage. The rich smell of the markets hit her next, mixing with the musky smell of sun-dried dirt. Staring hard, she caught glimpses of the markets from between the rows of helmets. A fishmonger was wrapping his customer's buy in paper like a spider would its prey; a florist placed a lily in the outstretched arms of a little girl; a man bit hungrily into a carrot while his customer picked from ice bricks of varying sizes. Elsa watched, transfixed, at the usual day to day workings of her home. The sun's glare made the door of the iron cage warm and pleasant to lean on, and for a moment, Elsa forgot that her uncle was planning to burn her at the stake. She fell asleep, leaning on the door of her captivity.

* * *

Anna felt numb. Of course, there are those of the English community that would point out that the word numb indicated a total lack of sensory perception and therefore Anna shouldn't describe herself as emotionally 'numb', yet nevertheless Anna felt that 'numb' would be the only word she could use to describe the current horror that befell her emotions. Her English tutor would have turned crimson with so poor a word choice. He would have enforced a more colorful word such as 'despondent', 'woebegone', or even 'lassitude'; but Anna stuck with 'numb'.

The fabric of her bedsheets felt cold and lifeless between her fingers, the silky texture that once promised comfort for a good night's sleep was now nothing more than an annoyance. She couldn't even dig her nails into it. The mid-morning sun was already slanting away from her bedroom window; leaving the bed, the study table, and the wardrobe in the shade in favor of the large expanse of floor beneath the windows themselves. Anna sat in the gloom and began to feel that there was something distinctly missing. Her hand groped sideways and found nothing but more bedsheets to crumple. The strong sunlight of mid-morning pooled on the floor beneath Anna and turned the whole room an aquatic blue- usually, Anna would have been tempted to lie down and nap in the calming chill of the shade. Today was not at all 'usual'; the princess commemorated that by blinking the seconds away.

Tic-tok

Tic-tok

For a whole day, she had had a sister; for a whole day she had lived her childhood again in all its golden glory. With her sister beside her they had crossed mountains and bridged valleys; they had dared and they had won. And then she was gone. It was all gone. They had come and taken it all away.

' _No, not they_.'

' _So much for the whole 'not an evil uncle' thing_ ,' Anna thought glumly.

Where was Elsa now?

The window creaked open. Anna didn't pay it much mind till a shadow fell across the floor. The princess looked up and for the first time since she was sent to her room, her face showed something- surprise.

"Hans?"

"Hey." The prince gingerly lowered himself to the ground.

"Hans," Anna found that of all the things she was expecting to come through her window, her childhood friend was not one of them. "Hans, what are you doing here?"

"When I heard about what happened, I had to come and see you." The prince's voice was soft, like footsteps on thin ice. Yet, as Anna looked at her promised prince, she found herself breathing a fresh breath of air. Perhaps it was the open window, or perhaps it was the fact that she wasn't alone anymore.

Brushing away some of the stuffed animals that lay strewn across her bed, Anna motioned for the prince to join her in the shade. Hans obliged and Anna soon found herself leaning towards him as the mattress dipped under his weight.

"How did you…why did you come in through the window?" Anna saw a mischievous smile form on Hans' lips. It was adorable.

"They put guards outside your door- your uncle's orders. So I climbed the roof and came through the window."

You climbed the roof?" ' _Could this man become anymore perfect_?'

"I learnt from the best." Hans looked at her; his mischievous smile in full force. Anna felt a sudden urge to kiss him. Instead, she settled for leaning on his arm; though she didn't so much as lean as she did collapse. It had been a truly horrible morning; Anna was impressed how long she had managed to keep it all together. She felt her cheeks colour and a prickling sensation around the corners of her eyes. Her friend seemed to sense the impending downpour as he gently wrapped an arm around her shuddering shoulders.

"Hey, it's going to be okay."

Anna answered the comfort with a sob. She felt the arm tighten its hold, drawing her deeper into the hug. Unfortunately, Ann found that as of the moment, she had as much composure as a sponge- one squeeze and all the water came raining out. Burying her head in his chest, she let the tears run dry. She didn't want to cry; she didn't deserve the luxury. Nevertheless the hot tears came; and the snot; and the burning cheeks; and all the rest of the messiness that came with emptying the floodgates of the soul. All the while, the arm around her held her together; held her tight as if the owner of the arm was afraid she'd crumble into a pile of broken pottery if his grip was loosened.

After a few sweet seconds of sobbing, Anna choked down the tears. As satisfying as it was to cling to her friend and bawl his jacket wet, the princess felt that such displays of self-pity were unwarranted in such times of peril. The crux of the matter lay not with her, but with her sister. If anyone had earned the right to cry, it was Elsa; and Anna was not going to indulge overmuch in something she did not deserve. The arm around her back was warm, and it was more than anything else she would have wanted at that moment- except for maybe, her sister.

"Better?" The gentleman asked. Anna responded with a sniff; brushing back the hair that had fallen over her face, she nodded and managed a small smile.

"Yeah, Thanks for that."

"Anything for you, my lady."

The princess wanted to roll her eyes- not in annoyance, far be it from her to condemn such acts of friendship and love- but in unwilling acknowledgement that Hans was a dreamboat of a man. She was lucky he had turned out this way. Anna repaid him with a bear hug, making sure to emphasize the 'bear' of the bear hug by squeezing hard till Hans tapped her shoulder for mercy. Feeling that he had spent sufficiently long incapacitated, Anna stood up after giving Hans his hug.

"Thanks." She said simply.

Hans simply smiled.

Anna realised she was staring and decided it was in her best interests to sit back down. His proposal was still a few months off after all and Anna took the proverb to heart: 'all good things to those who wait'. Hans reached out and plucked a pine needle from her hair.

"Have you had breakfast?" He asked after a moment of contemplation.

But Anna's mind was already elsewhere. In the few seconds it had taken her to sit down, her thoughts had already left the room, left the castle, and traveled to ponder on a lonely white haired sister. Anna hadn't seen where they had taken Elsa, but she had seen the metal box-on-wheels that was obviously there for her sister's transportation. At least her uncle hadn't done anything to her then and there; or so the princess hoped. Where could she be now? Probably back in her cell, chained to her bed, underfed and neglected. Something told Anna that the guards wouldn't be shirking their duties anytime soon. Then Anna remembered Kai's mention of the boat and her complexion fell.

"Anna?" It was Hans, but Anna was no longer concerned with her Prince Charming- handsome, and charming, and gorgeous, and perfect, and…though he was all she ever wanted in a prince, her sister was the reigning monarch of her thoughts in that hour.

"Anna, are you not feeling well?" He inquired.

"Where do you think they took her?" Anna stood up and looked down at the Southern Prince.

"I'm sorry?" Said Hans; not completely following the thought process of his lady.

"My sister," Anna felt herself frowning- not at Hans, never at Hans- in thought. The imaginary situations were popping up thick as flies. "Hans, where do you think they took her?"

"Anna, you shouldn't-"

Anna ignored him and continued: "Do you think he'll lock her up again? Or is he going to ship her away?"

"Anna…"

"Do you think he'll kill her?"

"Anna."

Anna looked down and saw Hans looking at her, a pained expression on his face. A pang of guilt shot through her- she had been speaking over the top of him.

"Sorry, I-I just…"

The dimple in the mattress next to Hans beckoned sweetly; but Anna fought off the temptations of inactivity; now was not the time for sitting around, for crying, or for staring at her promised man's perfect countenance. Not when her sister was in danger; not when Elsa was still at her uncle's mercy.

"…need to think."

The princess clapped her hands around her head. She started to pace the floor- a nervous energy had taken hold of her: something begged to be done. Her fingers trailed through her hair, tugging at the neatly tied bun. The princess realised that the thinking had already been done- it was a decision now. Anna came to a sudden stop, and though she could see her friend looking at her warily, it didn't bother her; her choice was made.

"Think about what?" Hans finally spoke, soft and reserved.

Anna turned to face him.

"I'm going to rescue my sister."

"What?" Hans was dumbstruck.

"I'm going now and I want you to come with me."

"Anna, you can't."

But Anna was already packing. They had taken her satchel from her at the docks but that didn't mean she didn't have more. The only thing that couldn't be replaced was the key to the dungeon; but Anna didn't need that dungeon key where she was going. Plus, she figured that her uncle wouldn't be so foolhardy as to return Elsa to a place that she had been broken out of.

"Anna, stop. This is insane!" Hans' reprimand felt like a backhanded slap. Anna reared back with a scowl to meet the challenge.

"How can I, Hans? She's my sister!"

"And how are you planning to rescue her exactly? You don't even know where she is!"

"But Uncle does!"

"What?"

Anna puffed up her chest- confident that everything she had thought of made perfect logical sense.

"I'm going to make Uncle release her."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I…" Anna found that her plan sounded a lot better in her head. "I'm going to talk to him."

Han's expression was somewhere between angry and incredulous.

"You-you're going to talk to him?" He almost spluttered. "That's your plan?"

Anna's confidence sagged with her shoulders.

"Hans, please." She was tired of raising her voice against her prince. "It's not like I have a better option."

Hans shook his head vehemently.

"Anna, you can't keep doing things like this. You can't just keep throwing yourself into something and hoping for the best."

"But it…" She was going to say 'turned out alright', but that would be a lie. "It's not like my uncle will kill me for asking."

The sobering look she caught from Hans had Anna reconsidering her options.

"Right? I mean, I am still the princess of Arendelle."

She saw her friend pause; measure the words he was about to utter; breathe; before dropping the bombshell.

"You aren't. Not anymore."

Anna opened her mouth but there were no words to be found. Hans looked down at the ground in sorrow.

"I'm sorry. Your uncle disowned you yesterday, after he found out what you had done."

Anna felt numb.

"I'm sorry," said Hans.

"How…" the words came slowly to Anna: one at a time. "How…did you know…about this?"

And then it all clicked. And then Anna wasn't feeling numb anymore.

"He told you to come didn't he?" Anna thrust the accusation at Hans like a lance. There was a burning feeling inside her stomach, a horrid ache that made her blood run hot beneath her skin. She felt cheated. "You're here because my uncle told you to come and keep me out of trouble."

Anna watched as Hans nodded and accepted defeat. She felt like her diamonds were turning to glass.

"You set this whole meeting up! Putting the guards at the door, climbing through the window- I bet that's why the guards haven't come and carried you out!" Anna felt the venom drip from her jaws. "Well good job Hans; I feel like such an idiot- falling for your charming routine."

Maybe that line hadn't been necessary, but Anna couldn't unsay her words, nor could she be bothered. She watched Hans grimace under the onslaught. At last, when he did speak, all the soft meandering negotiation had gone out of it. It was simple honesty now.

"Anna, I'm just trying to protect you!"

"From what?"

"From you!"

Hans was wringing his hands; a scowl on his face that was very unbefitting such charming features.

"You're always leaping into things before giving the matter any thought at all! You just dive into the waters without even thinking about how deep it might be. And what's worse, you never listen to what anyone else has to say!"

Anna could feel the blood burning red on her cheeks.

"Well thank you Mister Westergard for your most astute assessment; now I'll just be on my way."

"Anna, wait…"

"You said it yourself- I never listen to anyone. Why should I start now?"

Anna slung her satchel over her shoulder and walked over to the window. Hans made to follow her but she stopped him with a glare.

"Anna," Hans' voice was balancing itself between reserved and desperate. "Anna, please don't do this. If you do…"

Anna's eyes narrowed; her anger still burning strong.

"Then you'd best hope my uncle doesn't kill me."

Without another word, Anna slipped out of the window and clattered down the roof tiles. She knew she would regret her angry words, but decided to save the bitterness till later. Anna landed on the balcony and made her way to the throne room.

* * *

 _Author note_ : I would apologize for the gut punch of a chapter before, but it was intentional. This chapter picks up the pace of the story- hopefully not so much that it is jarring. However, it if is, tell me in the reviews. A big thank you to those who have reviewed, I aim to cliff-hang (please) all of you. :D

I do not own Frozen.

Peace out.


	10. Royal Pursuit

_Chapter 9: Royal pursuit_.

Anna stood outside the throne room, staring at the great double doors. Never before did these two doors seemed so daunting. After the incident with the bandits, the throne room had been intolerable. Ten years later, it wasn't much better. She seldom spent more than a few minutes in it, only passing through when absolutely necessary- most of the time it was to find her uncle for something or other.

She was here for her uncle again, perhaps for the last time. Hesitantly, she knocked; the hollow ringing of the wood sending chills down her spine. Silence greeted her knocks, not a soul stirred to answer the door. Anna frowned: this was unusual. She knocked again and heard her knocking echo out into silence on the other side. Usually a guard would have opened the door by now. Anna waited, but as the seconds ticked by, she found her patience wearing thin. As trepid as she felt, there was urgency to her agenda; there was also the growing fear that Hans would come charging into the scene, so she pressed her hand to the door and swung it wide open.

The room was empty.

"Ma'am?" inquired a voice behind her. Anna nearly jumped out of her shoes. Turning around like a stung bear, Anna found herself face to face with one of the palace guards. He was a young fellow who looked to be barely older than she was; wood brown eyes looked at her respectfully from under a fringe of sandy brown hair. He smoothed down imaginary crinkles on a meticulously clean uniform; it appeared that he was just as shocked to see her as she was to see him.

"Uh…hi…" She said.

"Ma'am, may I inquire as to why you are here and not your room as the king instructed?"

"Oh…" Anna grasped for her response. "Well, thing is, I just so happen to be looking for my uncle...the King, who is my uncle."

The guard said nothing, allowing Anna to pull herself together.

"There is something urgent I must discuss with him- immediately. If I may ask a favor: would you be so kind as to take me to him?"

"Oh…" The guard seemed to be at a loss for words. "Um, unfortunately ma'am, I won't be able to do that. The King is not currently within the castle walls."

Anna raised an inquisitive eyebrow and leaned in.

"Where is he?"

The guard stepped back hurriedly, hoping to at least preserve some sort of personal space.

"A dangerous prisoner has escaped the King's dungeons. It appeared that the prisoner had friends inside the castle staff- they attempted a coup and the prisoner was freed in the process."

"A coup?" Anna could scarcely believe her ears.

"Yes ma'am. Though the coup has been contained, the prisoner is still at large. It isn't safe for you to be out here, ma'am. If you'll allow me, I will escort you back to your room where you will be safe until the situation is resolved."

As if to punctuate the guard's explanation, a clattering of hooves burst into the courtyard outside the throne room. Anna turned and saw half a dozen royal guards in full armor- swords at their sides and crossbows slung over their back- ride in and circle the fountain. Anna's eyes got just a bit larger when she saw her uncle among them. The king's crown gleamed gold, along with the floral engravings on his armor. Instead of the crossbow, he had himself a great war-bow strapped to his back and a mighty quiver of arrows. The King turned to his men and barked an order, and then all at once they were thundering out of the courtyard, out through the gates, and straight towards the mountains.

The guard turned to escort Anna back to her room, but she was no longer there. Looking down the corridors did not help him- she was already running across the rooftops for the stables.

* * *

Elsa didn't know if she could run much longer. Her legs felt like the iron wrapped around her hands. Her knees ached and strained with every step. Behind her, the noise was dying down; around her the trees were growing taller; in front of her, the light grew smaller.

Still, the girl with the iron gloves pressed on, ever upwards.

...

 _Elsa stared at the floor of her iron cage as it rattled with the plodding of hooves. The sun's gaze upon its iron sides had turned the walls of the carriage uncomfortably hot, forcing her awake. Elsa did not complain about being woken up, if anything it was a blessing. Her dreams had become confused and lurid with the heat of the walls. Her father had featured prominently in them for some unfathomable reason. Anna was there too, small and still eight years old._

 _They were still there._

 _Elsa started and rubbed her eyes roughly with a gloved hand. Blinking once, twice, three times, Elsa stared at the opposing wall._

 _There was no one there._

 _She heaved a sigh as her heart pounded away with fright. There was a very good reason why she hated carriages, and she was remembering that reason now._

 _..._

Elsa tripped on a tree root and crumpled to the ground. She didn't bother getting up, choosing instead to simply roll over and face the sky. The towering trees gazed down at her, silhouetted by the bright midday sky. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air- the life preserving stuff here was languid and tasted faintly bitter. Her lips were parched and her eyelids were heavy with slumber. For a moment, Elsa entertained the thought of simply closing her eyes and drifting off- how ironic it would be for Kai to go so far for her release only to have her be caught napping.

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She refused to die like this. Sitting up, the prisoner willed herself back onto her feet. She had a mountain to climb.

...

 _The carriage was growing uncomfortably hot. Elsa wondered if this had been her uncle's design all along: to leave her inside some iron cage and roast her alive in the sun. She doubted he was into actual cannibalism, but remembering the way he looked at her, Elsa realised that he would have roasted her on a spit if he could get away with it._

 _And all this for what?_

" _Oh Anna, I guess saying sorry now won't fix anything."_

 _Anna shook her little head._

" _No…" said Elsa. "I guess not."_

 _..._

Elsa didn't lean on the tree so much as cling to it. She looked down; her left foot throbbed with pain. It was bleeding as she held it off the ground; blood trickled down between her toes to drip onto the pine needles that covered the forest floor like a prickly mattress. Weakly, Elsa looked back at the rock that had hated her so- it was a small sharp thing that jutted out through the pine needles so subtly, Elsa hadn't realised it was there till she stepped on it. She paid a price in blood for that mistake as the jagged edge of the rock tore a gash on the underside of her foot.

The prisoner grimaced as she examined the cut- luckily it was shallow, but it was long. Dirt crusted black with drying blood on the edges of the frayed skin. Alas, she could not stare at her wounded foot forever. There was a mountain to climb. Putting her foot down, Elsa stifled a whimper as the pain came shooting up like fire in her veins. Gritting her teeth, she limped on.

...

 _Elsa felt dizzy. The air was hot and stuffy and the incessant rattling of the carriage was grinding her nerves to a pulp. Suddenly, she felt the carriage begin to crawl up an incline. That wasn't right- the castle and the town were pretty much on the same level, if not lower. Under no circumstances should they be climbing any sort of slope._

 _Then Elsa realised: they weren't going back to the castle. The cage was rattling more than normal- they were traveling on gravel._

 _..._

Elsa didn't want to take another step. She had hobbled halfway up a mountain- how she had managed such a feat, even she had no idea. She almost wanted to smile- she wanted to live. Life, outside and not in some dungeon; life, free and spent as she pleased instead of rotting away outside of living memory. She wanted to live. It was contrary to everything that was expected of her. She was a prisoner at large, a wanted felon whom the King had personally sentenced to life imprisonment. She was dangerous; her gloves masked a pair of hands that had already shed blood, some innocent, some not so much. And yet, though the weight of her sins was heavy and the chances of her redemption were nigh impossible, she wanted to live.

She could see the mountain ridge now. Just out of reach, where the line of trees broke and the sunlight came pouring in. She could see the sky beyond it, blue and vibrant. She could see the clouds, like white foam in the sky; drifting lazily and without care; and beyond that, beyond all of that, towered the North Mountain.

Elsa stumbled on.

...

 _Elsa stared at the floor, panting. Beads of sweat trickled down her face to splatter the wooden floor- the air was oppressively hot, almost as oppressive as the look her father was giving her. The iron cage shook this way and that, and Elsa shook with it._

 _Suddenly, the carriage rattled to a stop. Elsa hoped they would end her quickly- being cooked to death inside a metal box was not something on her bucket list._

 _There was a commotion outside; startled voices were raised before a sudden outbreak of clanging metal. Elsa couldn't tell whether it was all part of her nightmare or whether it was happening for real. The shouting grew closer to the carriage- the metal box jerked and rattled with the unsettled horses. The prisoner hunkered down and hoped her father would stop looking at her._

 _The door opened and the cold came roaring back into the hot metal box. Elsa looked up, startled, as the chill wind blew her phantoms away. Gloved hands caught her by the wrist and dragged her out of her slumber. Disorientated and still recuperating, the prisoner sank into the grass at the feet of the carriage._

" _Your majesty."_

 _Elsa looked up. It was Kai. Strong hands pulled her to her feet. Metal clashed against metal. Kai was talking to her. Elsa stared dumbly at the butler she hadn't seen in years. A man fell to the ground next to her with a thud, a palace guard standing over him._

" _Go, Elsa!"_

 _The cool breeze blew around her and she was back. Elsa blinked and realised Kai was talking to her._

" _Run! To the North Mountain, where your Uncle cannot follow!"_

 _The butler gave Elsa a push and she stumbled back- out of the way of a falling blade._

" _Go, now!"_

 _Elsa turned and ran._

 _..._

With the last of her strength, Elsa lowered herself against the trunk of an ancient pine tree, its rough bark digging into her back. She didn't mind. Before her was a clearing, and a stone's throw away was the ridge of the mountain. It was a low lying ridge, one that stretched all the way from within the castle walls right to the peak of the North Mountain. Elsa followed its winding ascent with her eyes; the way it curled and curved reminded her of the back of some giant serpent, lying dormant in the brown rock and tussock.

Her foot hurt horribly. She didn't have the heart to inspect the wound; it would not be pretty after such a long and bitter hike. At the very least, the bleeding had stopped. Elsa looked skyward, the blue and the white, now unbound from the frame of towering trees, stretched its vast expanse across her vision. Hope blossomed within her, stretched its wings to fly into the endless blue. But moments before it was airborne, it crumbled and turned to ash. The sound of hooves echoed through the forest, joined soon by the bark of dogs.

Slowly, stiffly, painfully, Elsa stood; foot on fire and drained to the bone. They had found her, but she would not die sitting down.

* * *

Anna clattered over the tiles of her castle. A left, a vault to another roof, a drop, then a left again, and she dropped silently onto the stables. It was not yet time for the horses to be fed, nor was it time for their daily run- they had just come back from their morning stretch after all. There was also no getting around the coup that was supposedly happening inside the castle walls- Anna doubted she'd see any of the stable boys for a while.

She didn't have a while- she was leaving now.

Dropping down from the stable roof, Anna looked round for Sitron, her horse.

"I thought you'd come here," said a familiar voice.

Anna's stomach churned as Hans emerged from the stables. Behind him trotted Sitron, saddled and chewing on barley. Anna wasn't sure what to make of it all, eyes darting from Hans, to the horse, to the saddle.

"Hans...I…"

But before Anna could apologize, Hans had closed the distance between them and enveloped her in a hug.

"I'm sorry about before." He said, breaking out of the hug before it could get awkward. Anna was left scrambling after her wits.

"Oh, uh, no, don't be sorry about before- you mean before as in you invading my room, if you mean that…" Anna stopped herself before her ramble could get any longer. Looking up at Hans, she realised she wasn't angry with him at all. She smiled- he was forgiven.

"I'm sorry for that too." She said, her tone dropping along with her gaze. She hugged him back.

"What does this mean?" Anna said, releasing Hans from her arms. She gestured to her horse- her fully saddled horse- who was looking quite eager to go for another run. She looked at Hans and saw that his trademark smile was back on his face.

"It means," suddenly Hans lifted her up and put her on Sitron's back. "I love you, Anna."

Anna felt her cheeks go scarlet.

Hans swung himself onto the horse after her.

"It also means I'm coming with you."

"I thought you weren't supportive of my stupid ideas."

"I'm here to keep you out of trouble. I don't think you know what trouble looks like when you see it."

"Wherever did you get that idea?" Anna laughed, rolling her eyes at the sentiment. Taking the reins, she gave them an enthusiastic flick. Sitron snorted and leapt into fast canter.

"Come on," Anna said. "We're going to run my Uncle down."

Hans responded by wrapping his arms around Anna's waist. He's been riding with her before and he knew just how fast she liked to go. Meanwhile Anna reached up and scratched her horse behind the ear.

"Sitron."

The horse whinnied.

"Let's go for a run!"

Anna dug her heels into the horse's' sides and they were off, tearing through the courtyard and out through the open gates. Their quarry wasn't far ahead- Anna could hear the dogs barking.

* * *

Author's note: Hey guys, my apologies for the short chapter. The good news is that, the next chapter will be posted within a day or so. However, there's a balance to that: I need to go on another hiatus and I don't know how long this one will be (again). Not only am I having real difficulty cranking out the rest of the story, I have assignments that need writing. So posting from me will come in unpredictable bursts.

Other than that, I've been loving the reviews. I'm practically swimming in butter. Honestly, I'm so thankful you guys like the story I'm writing.

Peace out.


	11. Frozen

_Warning: violence._

* * *

 _Chapter 10: Frozen_

"What if they're barking up the wrong tree?"

"Hush, Anna. Not so loud."

"I know, I just mean: what if she's thrown them off her scent completely- she's got more brains than a lot of people I know, and I know a lot of people."

"Anna, please!" Hans' whisper was desperate.

"Okay, okay, sorry." Anna whispered back.

Anna and Hans had followed the royal pursuit to the foot of the mountain range. On the edge of the forest, the pursuit had dismounted to continue the search on foot- it was not hard to see why. Several of the King's hunting dogs had been brought into the fray. The canines yapped and growled at each other, milling around aimlessly till Amund had tossed something to the ground. Anna thought it was a comb. Seeing that the King and his men were going by foot, Anna thought it prudent to follow suit and continue their dogged tailing on foot. Hans, for once, agreed that it was a good idea.

This is what led to them crouching behind a particularly wide and particularly well branched fir pine. In front of them, further up the slope, the guards moved around cautiously with their dogs. The two had been crouching there for some time and Anna's leg had fallen asleep; not only that, there was a particular fly that persisted to land on her nose. Why the fly had decided to torture her thus, she did not know; but Anna knew that if the fly landed on her face just one more time, its entire race would one day rue its behavior.

"You think-"Anna was just about to begin another whispered conversation, when suddenly, several of the king's hounds began a horrendous din. Anna's words died in her mouth as her heart sank for her sister. The dogs were onto her. The guards began moving quickly uphill, battling the branches and the unsteady incline of the mountain. Hans tapped her on the shoulder- it was time they moved too. Anna needed no further encouragement.

They crept slowly behind the King's company, the mattress of pine needles padding their steps. Luckily, the wind was not blowing from behind them, though Hans did pause every few steps to check. Thus moving, Anna and Hans inched up the side of the mountain, ever keeping in the shadow of the hounds and the King's men. The dogs were as noisy as ever- Anna glared at them: they hunted her sister with as much joy as they hunted rabbits.

They were almost upon the mountain ridge. Beyond lay a wide valley where the trees grew thicker and denser. If Elsa had made it that far, perhaps she'd be able to lose the dogs among the streams- or so Anna hoped. Suddenly the barking from the dogs reached a crescendo, joined soon enough by the gruff yelling of the guards. Anna started and peered up towards the top of the ridge. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight that met her eyes.

A long woman stood there at the top of the ridge in a clearing. The light touched her hair and turned it white like snow, touched her dress and turned it the darkest shade of blue. It was Elsa.

* * *

The girl with the iron-gloves stood in the center of the clearing. Dogs bayed, barked, and growled at her from all sides, hemming her in; denying her even the hopes of escape. In the shade, their eyes glowed with the reflection of the sun. Elsa never knew till this moment how frightening the royal canines could be. The guards stood stiffly back, straining against the pull of the dogs. She saw their swords, their crossbows. She saw her uncle and his great war-bow slung around his back.

She was going to die today. Nevertheless she stood and faced them; she would die on her own terms.

Elsa looked at her uncle, and he looked back at her. For an eternal second, they held each other's gaze. Dull green gazed into the icy blue, and the icy blue stood firm. Every so often, a person would stare death in the face and death would blink.

"Any last words?" said the King; drawing his war-bow.

Elsa stared at the point of the arrow, its dark chrome surface glistening in the shade; the red goose-feather tails giving it excellent juxtaposition with the rest of the wood. She wondered what it would feel like, in a moment, when he shot the thing through her heart.

Would it hurt?

There was, then, one last thing she wanted to say.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty." The words came out dignified; reverent; honest. She saw the man's eye twitch. "I'm sorry for causing the death of your wife."

For a moment, there was silence. The arrow did not come, instead:

"Your apology won't bring her back, you know," spoke Amund of Arendelle.

"I know," said Elsa. "But it does not make my apology any less sincere."

She looked at him and saw that he would say nothing in return.

"I am truly sorry, Uncle."

For a moment the man before her wavered. The look in his eyes changed, Elsa could not describe it: was it regret? Was it resignation? She realised that she would never know, for the moment had passed and his eyes hardened once more.

"I know," said Amund. "But I cannot forgive you."

He drew his bow. He would not miss.

Elsa took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

Someone screamed:

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

There was a flurry of steps, a commotion amongst the guards, the sweet 'twang' of a bow string, then something warm and solid smote Elsa to the ground. Arms, strong and warm enveloped Elsa as she lay on the ground.

Elsa opened her eyes. Her confusion lasted only a moment before she realised who was on top of her.

"A-Anna?" Elsa was dumbstruck; blindsided by whatever magic had deemed fit to conjure up her sister to be with her in such a perilous moment.

"Anna, what are you-?"

A whimper from her sister brought Elsa back to reality. Since no arrow had pierced her heart, there could only be two possibilities. Out of the two possibilities, Elsa was only prepared to deal with one.

But alas, the arrow had not missed them both.

Elsa saw with growing horror the red goose feathers sticking out of her sister's lower back. The red patch was growing. The cloth grew wet around the crimson stain. Elsa was rooted to the spot, her mind blank and limbs heedless.

"Anna?" It was all she could say.

"Hey," gasped her sister. Elsa could see the blood running down from her mouth- the girl had bitten her lip so hard it had nearly split in two.

"Oh, Anna, what on earth, what…" Elsa was beginning to panic.

"Somebody…" Her words were lifted to the general audience.

"Somebody help-"

The rest of the sentence died on her lips as she looked up and found herself staring right at her uncle. Then she realised: no one cared. The dogs, if anything, were driven to greater cacophonies by the smell of fresh blood.

Dumbly, Elsa saw her uncle reach down, pick up her trembling sister and toss her roughly aside. Anna gave a strangled gasp upon hitting the ground and curled up into a shivering ball.

"Two dead princesses in one day are a bit much, don't you think?"

Amund said as he drew his sword.

Suddenly, Elsa wasn't dumb anymore.

The air grew chill and the skies clouded over into darkness. Elsa felt a rising energy within her, a merciless flame that consumed everything. She was being hollowed out like a melon: her restraint being replaced with power; her calm replaced by fury; her maturity replaced with wrath. She felt it surge within her- a limitless energy. She felt like a firecracker, teetering towards explosion.

With the sound of a mighty thunderclap, the iron gloves on Elsa's hands shattered. The magic of the trolls was broken into nothingness. Summer heat descended into arctic cold in the blink of an eye. Snowflakes began to fall from the dark and gloomy sky, thick and fast, till the ground began to turn white under their smothering embrace. A strong breeze began to whistle its way through the forest, rustling the pine leaves like a thousand chattering teeth.

Amund stumbled back before snagging a tree root and sitting down in an unsightly heap. Elsa towered over him, her skin glowing with a soft white light. She, who had for so long sealed away her awesome strength, was now unbound; and she found that her power could feel no limits.

"What are you doing just standing there? Kill her!" Roared the fallen King.

But Elsa could not hear the King's command over the howling of the wind. As the wind and the snow billowed and boiled around her in a maddening dance, Elsa was only dimly aware of the King and his men. There was an energy surging within her: a boiling, bubbling power that burned her bones and turned her veins to ice. The wind was hers, the clouds were hers, the snow was hers to command; and suddenly, the King and his men seemed so very inconsequential. She was aware of the crossbows being pointed her way; aware that in a moment, they would unhinge and strike her down with a volley of arrows. Elsa turned to them- those soldiers cowering and huddling together in the cold and the ice- and dismissed them with a small wave of her hand. A blast of ice and wind erupted from her open palm and hurled the soldiers away like rag-dolls. Distantly, she thought she could hear tree branches cracking as they landed. Only Amund stood, sword anchoring him against the raging gusts of sleet and snow.

"Elsa?"

Elsa saw her sister's lips move, but she couldn't hear her voice. She strained her ears for the rest of the sentence, but the wind wrapped its swirling gales around her head and muffled her ears. Now that she had unleashed the storm, Elsa found that she had no power over it. By right, it was hers to control; but instead she found herself being blown around on her own two feet. Her feet throbbed with every wavering step she took.

Reaching out with her hands to the sky, Elsa gritted her teeth and commanded the wind to stop: the wind howled with laughter and blew stronger still. Elsa turned to the snow and begged it to cease; the ice cackled and danced around her in an ever thickening sheet of white. Elsa watched in horror as rocks cracked and trees bent with the ice and snow- her efforts had been futile; and as she began to panic, so did the storm take on a totally frenetic pace.

Elsa fell to her knees, the ground shuddering as she did, and begged the storm to calm. She cried out to the wind, to the snow, to her father, to her mother, but no one heard her. No one could. The girl with the iron gloves looked up and saw her uncle advancing towards her, sword in hand, shielding himself from the buffeting wind with his cloak. Elsa scrambled to her feet- she didn't want to die either.

"Don't!" She warned. "Don't come any closer!"

But the wind drowned out her pitiful voice, and her uncle came closer still.

"I can't control this!" She cried. A gust of ice blew the crown from Amund's head; but now he was right in front of her.

Amund raised his sword high, before bringing it crashing down. Elsa screamed and raised her arms against the stroke of doom. Suddenly, everything became bathed in a blinding blue light. Elsa felt the ice rage inside her veins, felt the fire roar inside her bones; the magic that had been pent up inside her for so long surged out of her in a single instant, washing over the landscape.

The world was still.

The wind was gone and snow no longer fell. So quiet had the forest become that Elsa could hear her own ragged breaths. Slowly, cautiously, Elsa opened her eyes. She was still alive! Then she noticed the ice. There was no longer ground for more than a hundred meters, only ice. The trees around her had become frozen sculptures. The grass, the rocks…

Something fell from the sky, shattering to pieces on the ground. Elsa saw in horror that it was a bird, frozen solid.

A wheezing gasp drew her attention away from the dead bird. Elsa looked up and saw her uncle, collapsed against an icy tree, his breathing labored. In his hand he still held his sword, albeit that the sword was now nothing more than a cracked and broken stump of metal.

"What…" The King's hair turned white as he made a stumbling attempt to rise.

"...have you…" The man buckled to his knees, each breath shorter than the last. Frost patterns spread like ivy across his skin, hanging off his clothes like ethereal vines.

"...done?" Speaking thus, Amund looked up, and as his eyes met hers, he froze. Within the twinkling of an eye, Amund transformed into a human statue of the purest ice.

Elsa stared back into his unseeing eyes in horror.

"No...I …"

"Elsa?"

The girl of the wind and snow whipped around at the sound of her sister's voice.

"Anna…" Elsa made to move towards the fallen girl, but was stopped in her tracks- frozen still- by the look she found in her sister's eyes. Many things she had seen there: joy, love, excitement; but this one was new: terror.

"You...killed him…" The accusation hit home like an arrow, pierced her heart like a lance.

"Anna, I…" But there was nothing more for her to say after that. Elsa could give no defence. Her hands hovered in front of her, useless.

"I…"

Snow fell gently upon her sister's fallen form, shrouding her with a layer of white. There was a scuffling sound to the right. A young man came stumbling in, his mop of ginger hair tousled by the wind. His knees were covered in dirt and there were icicles in his hair. It was Hans; he took one look at the scene, and running, fell to his knees beside Anna.

"Anna! What on earth?" He peered at the rapidly growing patch of red around her stomach. "You're hurt…"

"Wow… didn't think...you'd realise," whispered the princess through gritted teeth.

Hans spared a moment to shoot a glare at Elsa. Elsa shuddered, if Anna's eyes had condemned her, his eyes pronounced the death sentence.

"Hold still Anna."

Elsa saw the prince stiffen as he examined the wound. She saw his eyes widen and his brow furrow. Was that anguish she saw on his face? The snow queen took a hesitant step closer and was stopped in her tracks by a glare from the prince.

"What have you done?" He asked; and Elsa cowered, for she had no answer.

"It- it's not her fault." piped up a weak and shuddering voice. "I dived…" said Anna.

"And what is that?" Said the prince, looking over at the ice statue.

"I did that." mumbled Elsa. "I-I killed him."

And then she saw it in his eyes too, that moment of realization when he recognized in whose likeness the ice statue was made. She saw fear, and horror, and loathing. She was a monster now by her own admission.

First one step, then two, Elsa backed away from the carnage that lay in front of her. Snow was falling thick and fast, blurring the tragedy with curtains of white. It was all too much.

"Just...take care of my sister." She said at last; and that itself was the admission of defeat.

"No…Elsa...don't…" The wind blew away the rest of Anna's protest.

Elsa saw the Prince look at her, eyes smouldering; but she saw him nod in acceptance of his responsibility. He would look after Anna, just as he had for all those years.

"Thank you," said the Snow Queen.

"Elsa, no, please…" Anna's whispered.

Elsa turned and ran.

* * *

Watching her sister disappear into the snow, Anna concluded that this was probably the worst day of her life. She couldn't decide if the arrow currently lodged in her stomach was the cherry on top, or the root of all evil.

It certainly felt like the root of all pain. Anna had no words with which to describe the agony she felt. Every little movement, even the shifting of an arm, caused her stomach to wail. When she had moved her head to look at Elsa, the pain had caused her to black out for a few seconds. She had no time, no energy to properly consider all that was happening. It was all too much, too fast.

Was Elsa really her sister?

And yet, even that didn't matter, as the snow continued to fall and the temperature continued to drop. Anna shivered, then gasped in pain when she did so. She was vaguely aware of the growing warm patch of warm around her hands, which clutched the area around her stomach. When she moved her fingers, she found that they were slick and wet with blood.

This really might just be the end of her.

Hans was kneeling beside her. Hans...whose grip she had slipped when she saw Amund aim his arrow at Elsa. Considering this, Anna found that it was probably in her best interest to apologize. Now that she had really gone and done it, apologies seemed to fade into insignificance.

"H-Hans…" Damn, she couldn't even get the words out of her mouth without a spasm of pain.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Silence. Then:

"I'm sorry too."

"I've been an absolute...absolute idiot."

Silence.

"Do…" another surge of white hot pain flared up. "Do you think… it will take long for...the doctors to...to…?" The sentence petered out into silence. Anna didn't want to talk anymore. And yet, Hans did not answer her.

"Hans?"

Silence.

Anna strained her head sideways to look up at her friend, who was just standing there.

"Hans?"

The man was frowning, a deep scowl clouding his face and charming complexion. As Anna watched, various fragments of emotion danced over his face, indicated by only the slightest twitch of the lip or the eyebrow. He didn't look at her, instead choosing to gaze into the horizon. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, so tight, in fact that Anna thought he might asphyxiate himself.

The snow was falling faster now, and thicker. Anna had to blink constantly so that the little flowers of ice would not become stuck in her eye lashes. The wind, once a gentle breeze, was beginning to pick up. It drove the cold through the layers of clothing, cutting through it like a hot knife through butter. Anna shivered again, only to gasp and groan- immediately regretting the action. She could feel the blood trickle down her mouth- her lip had been solidly bitten through.

Somehow, it just felt like the day just couldn't get any worse.

"Anna." The welcome voice of her friend drifted down to her.

"Ye-yeah?"

"Anna, I'm sorry…" He paused, she didn't understand why.

"Anna…" She could hear him breathe. She could hear the air being sucked deep into his lungs, and then slowly expelled. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you."

She didn't understand.

"Hans?"

He looked down at her. Those warm dreamy eyes were strangely distant.

"Goodbye Anna. I will always cherish the years we shared together."

She began to understand, but she refused to believe it.

"What? Hans...no...what do you mean?"

He looked down at her, silent as the grave. Anna couldn't believe it.

"But… if you leave me here…" She didn't want to consider it possible. "I'll die."

Slowly, Hans nodded.

"Yes, you will."

Anna couldn't grasp it. She wanted to wake up, sit up in her bed and blink away this nightmare. There was only one thing preventing that: she wasn't asleep.

"But…" Words choked in her mouth, clogged up her throat. "I thought...I...thought you loved me. Hans…"

Snow crunched as Hans knelt back down beside her. She could see his face clearly now, and it was as perfect as ever. Slowly, he traced a finger over her cheek and through her hair.

"Oh Anna." He said. "If only…"

"If only?"

Anna watched, in horrified bafflement, as Hans' lips stretched into a tight smile.

"You're going to die, Anna. I doubt even the royal physicians can save you now. And anyway, I don't think you have anything left to offer me."

Was he trying to justify himself? Anna didn't know. Anna didn't want to know. All she wanted to do was to wake up, but she knew she couldn't. Anna wasn't delusional enough to deny that this was actually happening.

"Offer... you?"

Hans let out a thought 'hum'.

"Anna, I was the one who had you disowned."

"What…?"

"I know. Your Uncle didn't like the idea very much either. But I knew certain things that could ruin him; like how he was involved in your father's death, for example."

"Hans, what are you-"

Anna felt her lips sealed by the finger of the Southern Prince, who softly hushed her.

"I thought you might have wanted to know; I at least owed you an explanation. Call it an expression of our friendship."

The prince stood up. Anna looked up at him, tears prickling the sides of her eyes. The prince turned, looked back, and smiled.

"Rest in peace, Anna."

And then he was gone, disappearing into the growing snow storm.

"Hans!" Anna felt the tears trickle down the side of her face, felt the tears freeze before they could hit the ground.

"Hans!" She screamed into the storm, heedless of the pain in her stomach.

"Hans, please!" She sobbed. It hurt. "Come back!"

She had never known pain till now.

"Please! I'm begging you-"

She had to stop. She could feel blood rising in her throat. She could see the splashes of red on the ground near her face. She could see the growing red patch near her stomach. Anna was a dead girl still breathing.

'But only for a while' she thought.

In her desperation she had propped herself up on her elbows. But now her body was growing heavy, her eyelids insisted on covering her eyes. For the first time that day, Anna felt tired. No, not tired; exhausted. All she wanted to do was to go to sleep and hug Hans.

'Hugging Hans is overrated' she thought. Sleep it was then. Anna knew that when she next closed her eyes, she wouldn't ever open them again. There was a strange taste to the finality of that realization. She was going to be dead soon. Slowly, Anna laid herself down, her hand leaving a bloody smear on the ice. She couldn't lie on her back- the goose feathers of the arrow still stuck out from where it had pierced her. If she was going to die, then at least she'd die in the least painful position possible.

Anna's gaze settled on the frozen form of her uncle, kneeling for all eternity. Would it be awkward, she thought, if they both went to heaven?

...

 _Uncle, Uncle, Uncle!"_

 _Anna tiptoed to reach her uncle's sleeves._

" _Uncle Amund!"_

 _The man finally looked down from his desk, dark circles around his eyes. It would seem that policy and foreign investment had done a number on him. The candle light was burning low and the moon was beginning to wax in the sky._

" _What is it child?"_

 _Anna held up the book in her hands, high as she could tip toe, so he could see the beautiful cover._

" _Read me a bedtime story...please." She emphasized the please, making it sweeter than chocolate._

 _Uncle Amund frowned and took up the book from the tottering ten year old._

" _Why this one?"_

" _Because."_

" _Because?"_

" _Because it's my favorite."_

" _I thought your favorite was 'The tales of Flynnigan Rider'."_

" _Well this is my new favorite."_

" _Alright then." The uncle ceded. "But you must promise me to not skip your mathematics class tomorrow. Mr Eisenhower was quite cross with you today."_

" _I promise."_

 _They made their way to the bedroom rather quickly. Anna was far too excited to go to bed, but she had to be in bed if she wanted to hear the story. Her uncle tucked her in._

" _This was Elsa's favorite too."_

 _She didn't see the sudden stiffening of the jaw, or hear the gradual relaxing of her uncle's breathing. All she wanted was to hear the story. Snuggling up to Uncle Amund, she watched him carefully open the book to the first page._

" _The tale of the Snow Queen," he began, voice deep and soothing. He was a great story teller._

" _Once upon a time, in a land far far away…"_

 _..._

Anna's eyelids drooped and her head hit the snow. It was soft, powdery, and oh so cold.

So cold.

Then, nothing.

* * *

Author's note: Next chapter in a week. I promise.

I don't own Frozen.

Peace out.


	12. Long live the King

_Chapter 11: Long live the King_.

* * *

The lone horse cantering into the castle gates had all the royal guards scrambling to their feet. As the noble steed slowed to a trot, the murmur went up:

"Why, that's Sitron!"

"What is the princess's horse doing out here?"

"Where is the princess? Have we still not found her?"

"No sir we haven't."

"Simon, you had one job…"

The murmurs were hushed into silence when a second horse trotted in, this time bearing a weary burden. Prince Hans of the Southern Isles dismounted from his horse, a haunted look in his eyes.

"It's the prince!"

"What's he doing here?"

"It's our job to ask, isn't it?"

But before the guards could speak, the prince had already approached them. They drew near, seeing how his shoulders sagged in evident exhaustion. Cries of 'a cloak for the prince' went up as they saw that he was also shivering from the cold.

"Gentlemen," said the prince. "Is the council still present? I have urgent matters and I'm afraid they cannot wait."

The guards exchanged glances- they were not privy to the comings and goings of the ruling class. Theirs was to simply hold the door and make sure that whatever came to pass, no harm came to the sovereign household of Arendelle. As of late, they had been shockingly bad at their job. However, this day was an exception. When the news of the coup had broken, all the dignitaries and nobles that formed the regency for King Amund had been ushered into the council chamber- both to keep any mutineers out, and also to keep anyone with ties to them inside. As such, it was prince Hans' lucky day. The guard, Simon, stepped up to offer his services.

"Thank you, good sir," said Hans with a gallant handshake.

"Your highness," said one of the guards. "What happened out there?"

Hans turned, his expression darkening.

"I don't know; but I fear that a powerful curse has been placed upon this land."

"And the King?"

"And the princess?"

Hans lowered his gaze, biting his lip in anxiety.

"That's what I'm here to find out."

Then he turned and left, escorted first to a second coat and a hot drink, and then to the council chamber. The rest of the guards were left in stunned silence, some staring up at the sky, some staring down at their toes as the snow continued to fall; all wondering what on earth the world was coming to.

* * *

"Anna will be fine, Anna will be fine, Anna will be fine…she'll be fine…"

Elsa repeated the phrase to herself like a mantra.

"She's just been shot…with an arrow…through the stomach…"

Elsa clutched her head in her hands and shook it violently, as if she could shake all her worries away like dust from a book. 'Anna will be fine' she thought; 'she has Hans now, she's always had Hans'. Elsa found those thoughts more conflicting than comforting. By all rights, she was the older sister and older sisters had a God-given responsibility to look after their younger siblings. And yet, whenever she was with Anna, she felt like a little ill-willed child that had to be babied and carried out of all the messes she had got herself into. Anna had taken an arrow for her, and her response was to run off? Elsa groaned in frustration. Alas, a reunion now simply couldn't be. She stared at her hands, examining the fair white skin that had lain hidden for almost a decade. How such delicate things could cause such destruction - how ' _she_ ' could cause such destruction - must be some bitter cosmic irony. She had killed with these hands! Elsa grimaced at the memories: the stains would never wash away. She had taken her first life when she was eleven- the day of the incident; then, she had frozen her aunt- the first sign her power was beginning to spiral out of control. She should have known what was coming, should have known how dangerous she would become. Elsa knew she could never go back to the castle. She bit down the rising impulse to turn back. It could not be.

Elsa stopped. Her slow meander down the other side of the ridge had finally led her to the bottom of the valley. A small stream trickled its way past her, half frozen and almost completely chock full of debris. For a moment, Elsa took in the scenery. The snow had stopped falling now, leaving everything covered in a tranquil layer of white. The powdery fall felt good between her toes and made a wonderfully crisp crunching sound with every step.

Her stomach growled. She was famished. Unfortunately, snow wasn't exactly dinner material; not to mention, Elsa wasn't especially fond of eating off the ground. Still, she couldn't help but try a mouthful of the freshly fallen stuff. It was utterly tasteless; and once it had melted in her mouth, it was like it had never been there at all. At least she wasn't as parched with thirst as before.

Looking around, the snow queen's attention was drawn to a plume of smoke rising not far away. From amongst the trees, she could barely make out the homely shape of a chimney, its top blackened with soot. Arendelle was not known for its warm winters after all. It was her first time outdoors, but Elsa was savvy enough to know what a smoking chimney meant: people. Her first instinct was to steer well clear of the homestead- the last thing she wanted was to put more people in harm's way. Yet the continued grumblings of her stomach and the weariness of her bones got the better of her; the hopeful thought came: 'perhaps they have a barn'. She continued towards the house carefully, her footsteps freezing the river solid.

Upon closer inspection, Elsa realised that it wasn't just a homestead.

"Wandering Oaken's trading post…" as she read the sign, a clump of snow fell from it to reveal it in its entirety. "And sauna?"

Cautiously she peered through the windows. They were foggy with condensation. Wiping away some of the water, Elsa stared into the house-turned shop. Rows upon rows of purchasable goods stared back at her. Hunger led her eyes to the rows of cured ham hanging in one of the corners- she almost drooled. There was just one problem- she was utterly penniless. Her stomach growled. Perhaps the shop owner would be nice enough to give something to her for free? The girl made a face, she didn't want to beg. Her stomach growled again; that settled it. With much trepidation, Elsa inched up the steps and opened the door.

A gust of wind blew her into the shop and slammed the door behind her. Elsa stood stock still, frozen with fear by the sudden change in scenery. It was only after a few very long and very deep breaths (as well as a continuous checking that she hadn't frozen anything) that she relaxed enough to move. Limping cautiously along the isles, Elsa began to suspect that there was no one home- or at least, not in the shop- and those legs of cured ham did look so very tempting. Suddenly, a rather nasty thought intruded upon her mind: perhaps she could just take one and leg it out before anyone came home. It was a very bad thought and it made Elsa shiver. Stealing was wrong, even she knew that. But ten years in a prison cell did certain things to one's moral code- if she could get away with it, no harm done; right? The more she looked at the ham the more the thought grew on her; the stuff was just hanging there- she could almost taste it. With a furtive glance over her shoulder, Elsa reached out and unhooked one of the smaller smoked hocks; it was heavier than expected but Elsa didn't mind. Turning, she made for the door.

"Yoo-hoo!" Chirped a voice from behind the counter.

Elsa had to cover her mouth to muffle the shriek of surprise that almost escaped her. The ham hit the floor with a thud. Turning to the voice as if she had been stung, she finally noticed the large man behind the counter, camouflaged against the honey brown wood by his very large and very homey looking sweater.

"You were going to pay for that, ya?"

The situation descended into the abyss of awkwardness. Elsa stared back at the large shopkeeper, her mouth slightly ajar in a very broken smile. A drop of cold sweat trickled down the side of her face as she realised she dug a hole she wouldn't ever climb out of.

"Uh…" Hastily, Elsa picked up the leg of ham. "Actually…"

"Shoplifting is against the law, ya? Punishment is death for stealing anything over twenty silver pieces." The shopkeeper shifted to one side and gestured to a rather worn poster nailed behind him. Two silken swimming suits kept it company.

"How much is the ham?"

"That will be forty silver pieces."

"Oh." It seemed like death just would not leave her alone today.

"But I will throw in a visit to Oaken Sauna."

Elsa hung the piece of bacon up with its brethren and turned back with the most apologetic smile she could muster. "I'm afraid I don't… actually have any money."

"Oh dear," the shopkeeper shook his head sadly. "That will not do. The ham is forty silver pieces."

The girl nodded glumly before limping for the door.

"Or two kilograms firewood."

Elsa turned and looked at the shopkeeper. Was he talking to her?

"I'm sorry?"

The shopkeeper looked at her intently and spoke again:

"Two kilograms firewood for the Ham. The strange weather is making it very hard to keep warm and current firewood supplies won't last much longer. If you provide us with firewood, I will count it as forty silver pieces. We have a deal, yes?"

It took a few moments for Oaken's words to sink in; but when they did, Elsa couldn't keep the smile from her face.

"Deal," she said to him, and hurried out into the cold.

* * *

"And the princess has still not been found?" Sir Traust slammed the council table with a meaty hand. "Of all the incompetence-"

"Sir, my men are doing everything they can to find her. I'm afraid she knows the castle better than we do." Sir Edel, the captain of the guards was most apologetic. "However, this mess would be a lot smaller if our friend here had kept her in her room without her exiting windows at will." He glared at Hans, who in turn had the fortitude to return the favor.

"Gentlemen," A small man with a weaselly face and a great walrus mustache cut into the conversation. "Though the location of the princess- or should I say former princess- is an urgent matter, I believe it is my duty to point out that our biggest concern should be: that it is _snowing_ in summer!"

"Not to mention the revolt, led by some of this council no less!" Sir Traust was indignant.

"It is indeed unfortunate," Sir Edel sighed. "Especially for Kai- I had never thought such a noble soul was capable of treachery. Nevertheless, the revolt has been dealt with- I personally put Kai in irons. However, his fate does lead me to say this: I'd gladly do the same for the lot of you if I find that you are in anyway related to this debacle."

The captain's statement fuelled the sullen silence in the room for the next few minutes.

"Personally, I'd like to hear what the prince has to say." Sir Gamell, the oldest member of the King's council, spoke up. He gestured to the prince, who bowed his head in gratitude. "You say, Prince Hans, that you were investigating the disappearance of Princess Anna? How did you come by her horse?"

"Good sirs of the council," said Hans. "The disappearance of the princess is my fault. I take responsibility for failing to keep her in her room while the revolt was being dealt with."

Captain Edel of the royal guards grunted and looked away.

"After her escape through the window, I informed the remaining guards of her escape and did my part in looking for her. I know Anna well from our years of friendship; I know her haunts better than anyone; some of these haunts are outside the castle and can be accessed unseen if the person knows their way."

"The girl courts trouble for a hobby," grumbled the Duke of Weselton. He was hushed by Sir Gamell.

Hans continued: "I was on my way to one of these haunts that I noticed her horse- Sitron- missing from the stables. If she had taken her horse, I knew there is only one place she could have gone to: Oaken Sauna."

"Oaken Sauna?"

"Wandering Oaken's trading post; it's a small shop that sells all sorts. Oaken, the owner, keeps a sauna going at the back for most days of the week- it is locally quite famous."

"And you think she went for a sauna?" Weselton was incredulous.

"She often seeks refuge there when the 'castle people' grow 'insufferable'; or so she tells me. Given what has happened these last two days, I would not be surprised if she found us all insufferable." Weselton withdrew, at a loss. Hans continued his tale: "It was on my way there that the Northern Ridge lit up in a blinding blue light."

Several of the council members nodded in recognition of this statement. They had seen the light too.

"I had not paid attention to the weather beforehand- Arendelle's climate is fickle after all. But I grew concerned after seeing the light- no earthly thing could have caused such a light as that. It was then that I encountered Anna's horse, wandering back towards the castle." The prince took a moment to savor that last sentence. "I would have searched the entire mountain if I had not been waylaid by the sudden blizzard."

"Finally, a man who has a semblance of a normal reaction to the snow." Mumbled Weselton; no doubt he meant to keep it to himself, but everyone heard it regardless.

"That, good sirs, is why I returned," said Hans. "I am not dressed for this weather, and I cannot continue the search without more men. I fear some accident has befallen Anna, and I wish to request help from the royal guards- if the captain does permit me." Here Hans nodded reverently at Edel, who simply frowned.

"Councilmen, please-" Hans began again. He was interrupted when the doors of the council chamber were thrown open. Every head in the council room turned to look upon the royal guard who had burst in. His uniform was in shambles: ripped, torn, and somehow partially frozen. Icicles and pine needles stuck out of his hair like quills from a hedgehog. The man steadied himself against the door, panting. Edel rose in indignation.

"Officer-!" he began, but was cut short by the intruder.

"The King-!" the man exclaimed between gasps of air. "The King is dead!"

"What?" Weselton had risen from his seat. The guard nodded.

"We were...attacked," he seemed to hesitate upon using that word. "-attacked by the prisoner. She… over-powered us…"

"She?" Gamell was intrigued.

"The king's guard, over-powered by a woman?" Weselton's tone was squeaky with derision. "If that is true, then you fools aren't fit for the job."

The guard shook his head violently at the accusations.

"Sir, you don't understand- she was a witch. She blew us off the mountain with a wave of her hand...and when we returned…" the man gulped, terror still fresh upon his visage. "We found the king, all turned to ice."

The guard looked at Edel, who had fixed upon the man a glare that was a toxic mixture of horror and incredulity. "I swear it sir," the guard said. "I swear it upon my life."

Suddenly, he caught sight of the prince and his already pale face turned whiter still.

"The Princess!" he spluttered. Hans sat up straighter in his chair, giving the guard his full attention.

"Yes?" The prince urged him on.

"The Princess- she was there too! By what foul play of fate, I do not know."

"What?" Hans' knuckles turned white upon the table. "What devilry is this? Tell me at once!"

"Uh…" the man stuttered. "I-I hate to be the bearer of bad news, your highness…"

"Out with it," said Edel; not unkindly, but even he was perplexed by the soldier's account.

"We had tracked the prisoner down with the hounds but when the King shot to kill, well...the princess appeared and … took the arrow for her… your highness."

"The witch must have had her under her spell since the beginning," exclaimed Weselton excitedly. "This would explain her anomalous and absurd actions!"

"But when we returned to the site after being thrown off the mountain by the witch, we found only the dead king."

Hans stood from his seat in amazement.

"The princess was nowhere to be found. We had no time to search for it was snowing heavily and we were not dressed for this sort of snowstorm. There are also those who were badly injured from the fall- we came back immediately."

Edel raised an eyebrow.

"If I remember correctly, you all _rode_ away to confront the prisoner. How is it that you have returned so late?" The captain inquired.

"With respect Sir, our horses were cut loose from their tether by some vandal. When we came down the mountain, they were nowhere to be found. I ran sir, since I'm the fastest and least injured. The rest are still on their way."

"And what about the witch?" Weselton's shrill question sounded from the far end of the table.

The guard could only shake his head.

"She was gone by the time we returned. But without a doubt, this snowstorm is her doing."

"The witch has cursed this land," said Weselton. "She must be stopped at all costs; before we all freeze to death!" He pounded the table with a small gloved fist and glared at Edel.

"Ready your men immediately, captain. I believe they are needed in action," He declared.

Captain Edel shot Weselton a cold sidelong glance before turning back to the royal guard.

"Get yourself cleaned up and see to it that the others that were with you are rested and treated for their injuries. You are dismissed."

"Yes, Sir!" the guard retreated hastily; leaving the councilmen to deal with the fallout.

No one moved when the doors closed behind the royal guard. Silence stifled the air in the council room as each of the council members exchanged furtive glances with each other. No one knew quite what to say, and if they did, they didn't trust the air to carry their words.

Finally, Hans spoke: "I will lead the expedition to search for Princess Anna. Her safety was my responsibility, and her harm will be upon my head." He looked at Edel. "How soon can we assemble the men for such a task? I only need twenty good men who know their way around the mountain."

Captain Edel would have replied had not Traust interrupted with a raised hand: "Gentlemen, if I may."

The room looked to Sir Traust.

"Councilmen," he began. "As much as the princess' disappearance concerns and pains me, I must concur with Weselton that she is no longer our priority."

Hans frowned.

"If we are to believe the guard's report- and I do- that the King has perished at the hands of this witch: a witch mind you, who has brought upon us freakish and unnatural snowfall," He paused, surveying the room. "Then our priority is first and foremost the people of Arendelle."

There were nods from around the room. Hans didn't move a muscle.

"If we do not do something, and something fast to reassure the general populace, there may be mass panic in the streets. You have seen the consequence of such hysteria on the continent- we cannot allow that to happen here."

"And what, Sir Traust, are you proposing we do?" Said Gamell. "Surely you do not suppose us to have some sort of divine power over the snowstorm."

"I assume nothing, Reverend Gamell," said Traust. "My proposition is this: we elect a new Regent immediately."

"But Anna is lost to us." Said Hans. "Should we not be focusing our efforts on saving the sole heir to the Arendelle throne?"

"Funny you should mention that, Prince Hans." Weselton was back in his chair. The man was now resting his chin on his knuckles, looking at Hans with a most peculiar smugness through his spectacles. "Amund, after he disowned Anna on the account of treason, named _you_ his next in line- the next regent so to speak. I suppose he failed to mention this to you before his death."

"No," said Hans, shock spreading across his face. "That is news to me."

"But not to us," said Traust.

"What…?" Hans was speechless.

"Arendelle looks to you now, Prince Hans." Gamell rose, holding in his hand a leather-bound Bible (he seemed to have one wherever he went; but it was little wonder, for he was the Bishop).

"Come Prince Hans of Arendelle. Place your right hand upon the holy scriptures..."

As Hans rose, his face showed nothing but confused surprise. How he longed to smile, this was his hour of triumph. He wished his brothers were here too; how many of them would dare laugh at him now? But they didn't matter, not anymore. His time had come.

"Repeat after me these holy vows, in the presence of God and of Man."

* * *

Elsa bit hungrily into the ham. A chunk of freshly cooked bacon in one hand and a hunk of bread in the other, she feasted like a queen. She could see Oaken looking at her with barely contained amusement, she guessed it wasn't everyday he fed starving girls with the power to freeze countries. Elsa hadn't told him about the country freezing part, and she wanted to keep it that way.

"One mouthful at a time ya? I cannot have you choking to death on my products- very bad for reputation."

Elsa nodded and stuffed her cheeks with bread.

They were sitting in the barn. Elsa had insisted that she stay in here, despite Oaken making some very tempting bargains about the Oaken Sauna. To onside, Elsa's firewood was piled against the hay. It was a decent pile and had taken Elsa most of the day to amass. By the time she had brought it all back, she was positively faint from exhaustion. The smell of cooking meat had revived her: to her sheer delight, she had returned to Oaken turning the meat on a spit. Apparently, after seeing that she intended to uphold her end of the bargain, he had gone the extra mile so they were on 'good feelings'.

Elsa sighed contentedly as she gulped down the last of the bread and collapsed back into a bale of straw.

"You are certain you do not wish to stay in the guest rooms?"

Elsa shook her head.

"Thank you, Oaken, but this barn will be enough for me."

The shopkeeper nodded and opened the door, a gust of cold air and snow drift rushed in to greet him.

"Hoosh," He exclaimed; brushing the snow from his face. "Big summer blow out, ya?" He said, turning to Elsa. The girl could only nod.

"I guess, yeah…"

"Wherever could it be coming from?"

"Well…" Elsa looked down at her toes; she couldn't very well say 'myself'.

"Oh well, as long as the snow doesn't stay too long," chirped the big shopkeeper. "One or two days is tolerable, but any longer and we will have supply and demand problem for everything."

Turning back to the girl he had just fed, he asked: "You sure you don't need foot to be bandaged, ya?"

Elsa, broken out of her sleepy daydream, could only blink in response.

"If you don't bandage the wound, you might be infected by gangrene. Then we will need to chop off your foot."

"Oh," said the girl, startled at the mention of chopping feet. "Well...if you put it that way… I guess I'll need the bandages then. I'll bandage it myself, if you don't mind."

"Are you sure?" The shopkeeper looked concerned.

Elsa nodded emphatically. "Yes, I'll be fine."

"Okay then," chirped Oaken. "I will fetch you bandages, water and dressing. Stay right there, ya?" And with that, he hurried off in typical Oaken fashion. Elsa watched him leave with a smile- despite the constant bargain driving, the man had a good heart. Good feelings indeed.

Elsa stood gingerly and stretched her tired frame. Her body ached from head to toe from the manual labor. She found it almost hard to believe that not so much as a day ago, she had still been holed up in her cell. Limping carefully, Elsa made her way out of the barn and into the cold snowy clearing. The landscape was white now, like it was the dead of winter. She breathed deeply, feeling the crisp cold air flush down her lungs. She didn't shiver, she could feel the cold but it enlivened her; it was part of her. A ray of sunlight struck her in the eye; Elsa blinked and looked up. Far away, just above the line of pines, there was a break in the gray and dreary clouds. The evening sun peeked through, sending rays of gold scattering over the countryside. Elsa felt her breath catch in her throat as the dying light struck the stormy clouds and lit them up like tinder in a furnace. The sky turned red as blood, crimson like passion, golden like glory. The majestic hues of the sky were echoed by the snow beneath; Elsa turned around in wonder as the world turned pink and purple and gold. The snow sparkled in the sunset and the light of the sun lit up the world in magnificence; she had never seen anything like it. A droplet of water hit the bare skin of her foot; Elsa sniffed and suddenly realised that she was crying. Reaching up, she brushed the tears away and marvelled at the sensation of touching her face with the skin on her own two hands. She cupped her cheeks in her bare hands and closed her eyes; she wanted to laugh, everything felt so new to her. It was like she'd just been born.

"Enjoying the snow, yes?"

"Hm?" Elsa opened her eyes and turned to find the big shopkeeper looking at her, a smile on his homely face.

"Everything has been prepared," he said, gesturing to the bucket, the bandages and a small bottle of ointment that he had placed beside the barn door. "Now careful with the ointment; and be sure to wrap the bandages comfy- not too tight, ya?"

Elsa nodded and beamed back at Oaken. "Thank you, you are too kind."

"Anything for you dearie. It would give me bad feelings if I left you on your own. I will go now, must put family to bed."

Then with a last 'yoohoo' and a small wave, the shopkeeper tottered back into his trading post and shut the door. Elsa couldn't keep the smile off her face.

The sunlight had died down, the break in the clouds was sealing up. Slowly, Elsa watched the world plunge itself back into twilight. The world was blue; a damp, sluggish, restful sort of blue that signified the closing of curtains, the lighting of hearths, and the promise of a restful slumber. The blue crept up around the girl of the ice and snow, and made her expel a weary sigh. She was exhausted. Slowly, Elsa turned and limped back into the barn, closing the door softly behind her. Picking up the bucket, the bandages and the ointment, she found to her delight that the water was hot; steam caressed her face as she peered into the metal pail.

Elsa sat upon a bale of hay as she tended to her wounded foot. Upon examination, Elsa recoiled at the sight of the wound. It had been stupid of her to not have asked for bandages earlier. Slowly, she lowered the injured foot into the water, and then shivered in a mixture of pain and delight as the hot water embraced her weary muscles. The gash in her foot stung like it was fresh, and Elsa winced as the pain persisted. Still, she forced herself to gently scrub the area- she figured this pain was still preferable to losing her foot entirely. With satisfaction, she watched the water in the pain turn murky. When all the gunk had been peeled off, Elsa rested her foot tenderly across her lap. The skin was rosy from the heat and steam trailed off like smoke from a chimney. Now that it had been rid of the dirt and the grime and the blood, the gash looked considerably more manageable. The torn skin was just a tad inflamed, but Elsa guessed that was what the ointment was for. Without wasting much time, Elsa popped the cork on the bottle and dribbled some of its contents down the arch of her foot. It was a horrible idea. Elsa squealed and nearly jumped off the hay as white hot pain shot up her leg. She sat there, panting for a while- she really should have seen it coming. She tried again, but this time she put the ointment on the bandages and applied it by wrapping the soft cloth around the injured foot. It hurt, but the pain was dull and Elsa found that she could live with it.

Leaning back, the straw felt soft beneath her weary head. There was a certain smell to it, something distinctly earthen yet possessing a rich note of summer. She liked it; she liked the soft crackling sound it made under her as she shifted her weight about. Slowly, her eyelids drooped. It was warm.

So warm.

Then, nothing.

* * *

"Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this Kingdom of Arendelle, and the dominions thereto belonging, according to the statutes agreed upon by the Council, and the laws and customs of the same?" Bishop Gamell's rich baritone reverberated through the council room.

"I solemnly promise to do so," spake Hans, earnestness and honesty ringing with every word.

""Will you to your power cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgements?"

"I will."

"Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the laws of God, the true profession of the gospel established by law, and will you preserve unto the bishops and clergy of this Realm, and to the churches committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain unto them, or any of them?"

Weselton snickered. Traust clapped him across the back.

"All this I promise to do so." Hans puffed up his chest. "The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep: So help me God."

"It is done." said Gamell, stepping back. "You have sworn the sacred vows. Now power and responsibility for this Kingdom of Arendelle lies upon your shoulders, Hans Westergard- first of his name- King-regent of Arendelle. May your reign be long and prosperous."

* * *

Author's note: Long live the King

cue Light of the Seven ost (I don't own GOT)

Hey guys, sorry about the delay. I bumped into a bit of a writer's block. Also, university has just gotten hectic.

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Please send reviews! I still have no idea how the majority of you took last week's chapter.

Next chapter in a week's time. I don't own frozen

Peace out.


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